Tag Archives: Staples Teen Awareness Group

Dozens Of Students Dodge Cops

Posted on November 27, 2015 | 1 comment

Occasionally, Westport kids run from cops. Earlier this week, they ran toward them.

And threw dodgeballs at their heads.

The cops threw them right back.

In fact, cops and kids were on the same team. They played with and against each other, in the Westport Youth Commission’s annual “Dodge a Cop” event.

The Dodge-a-Cop winners! Standing from left: Deputy police chief Foti Koskinas, "coach" Mac Barecca, Sam Ahlgrim, Jason Nelson, Noah Staffa, Joe Pravder. Front: Grant Sirlin.

The Dodge-a-Cop winners! From left: deputy police chief Foti Koskinas, “coach” Mac Barecca, Grant Sirlin, Sam Ahlgrim, Jason Nelson, Noah Staffa, Joe Pravder.

Staples’ Teen Awareness Group co-sponsored the event. Students paid to play. It was a fundraiser for the Chris Lemone College Fund. Lemone, Staples’ outreach counselor and longtime TAG advisor, died earlier this fall.

The dodgeball tournament — held in the Staples fieldhouse — drew over 100 students. They came from every social group: athletes, actors, robotics team members, you name it.

An all-girls team high-fives their cop. (Photo/Caroline O'Kane)

An all-girls team high-fives their cop. (Photo/Caroline O’Kane)

Each of the 26 teams had at least 1 police officer.

A cop fires in the line of duty. (Photo/Caroline O'Kane)

A cop fires in the line of duty. (Photo/Caroline O’Kane)

As they hurled dodgeballs at each other — and shared pizza — it was hard to tell who had a better time, the cops or the kids.

There was plenty of action all night at the Dodge-a-Cop dodgeball event. (Photo/Caroline O'Kane)

There was plenty of action all night at the Dodge-a-Cop dodgeball event. (Photo/Caroline O’Kane)

Striking a pose. (Photo/Caroline O'Kane)

Striking a pose. (Photo/Caroline O’Kane)

 

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Posted in Police, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Grim Reaper Visits Staples

Posted on May 15, 2014 | 10 comments

Yesterday was Grim Reaper Day at Staples.

Three days before Junior Prom — and a month before Senior Prom and graduation — the Teen Awareness Group organized its 11th annual powerful educational event.

The walls were plastered with scary — and graphic — informational posters. A demolished car was parked outside.

Tyler Head thought he could drive home from a bar.

Tyler Head thought he could drive home from a bar.

But a 20-minute video was the centerpiece of the day.

Six people — most with Staples connections — told their harrowing stories on camera.

Marc Sholes described breaking his neck, and the agonizing years that followed, when he rode in a car driven by a drunk Staples friend.

Tyler Head got in an accident a couple of minutes from home, driving drunk. In the aftermath, his fiancee left him.

Current senior Sylvie Lexow talked about her father’s drinking and driving — and what followed.

Teacher Cathy Dancz had to identify her brother’s body, and pick out a coffin. Her kids will never have an uncle or cousins.

Cathy Dancz's life was shattered when her brother died.

Cathy Dancz’s life was shattered when her brother died.

Josh Reed left Staples to ride, high, in a car that raced down Sturges Highway. He marvels no one died.

And 1st responder Jason Bernstein helped carry 4 friends out of mangled metal. He was there as they drew their last breaths, choking on their own blood and teeth.

TAG — led by 12th grade filmmaker/editor Grace Kosner, with help from Gabbie LeBlanc, Meghan Lonergan, Caitlin Hoberman and Kendall Rochlin — has produced a stunning video.

The video is below. It’s hard to watch. But it could be the most important 20 minutes of your week.

Or — if it saves a life — ever.

(Click here if your browser does not take you directly to Vimeo.)

 

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Posted in Education, Media, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Grim Reaper Visits Staples

Posted on May 15, 2013 | 5 comments

Today was Grim Reaper Day at Staples.

To raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, the Teen Awareness Group (TAG) plastered the halls and lockers with informational signs and graphic posters.

A coffin near the cafeteria hammered home the point that drunk driving kills.

A video — shown to the entire school — was the day’s centerpiece. The TAG-  produced documentary featured members of the Staples and Westport communities, sharing personal stories of the impact drunk driving had on their lives.

The effect was powerful. And — in every aspect of the word — sobering.

Click below to watch the video. Click here if your browser does not link directly to YouTube.

 

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Posted in Organizations, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Txtng Klls

Posted on October 16, 2010 | 19 comments

Teenagers text.  It’s as natural to them as eating, drinking, and thinking about sex.

In fact, they text while they eat, drink, and (yes) have sex.

They also text while they drive.

So do their parents.

But at least a group of teenagers is trying to do something about it.

Zach Slater — a Staples senior who serves on the Yale-New Haven Hospital youth board —  brought the “Txtng Klls” (“texting kills,” for those of you > 18) movement to his high school.

Sponsored by Allstate, it asks teenagers to take pledge not to text while driving.

They back up their pledge with a thumbprint.  It’s a natural:  Thumbs are the primary texting digit.

At Staples earlier this week, the Teen Awareness Group got several hundred students to pledge with their thumbs.  In return, they received thumb rings saying “Txting Klls” — hopefully, a vivid reminder whenever they text.

 

Blue thumbprints on the poster -- and a thumb ring on the "thumb."

 

TAG also distributed surveys — asking students about their texting habits, as drivers and passengers — to help Zach with a research project.

A couple of hundred students responded.  Results are being tabulated.

Thumbs-up to Zach and TAG for tackling this important issue.

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Posted in Organizations, People, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Surveying The Scene

Posted on April 23, 2009 | Comments Off on Surveying The Scene

A small crowd discussed some big ideas about drugs and alcohol — Westport-style — at Town Hall last night.

Positive Directions and a panel of Staples students presented the results of several recent surveys.

Some results were unsurprising. Alcohol and marijuana use by teenagers is prevalent.  There is a strong correlation between drinking and drugs.  Parents underestimate what their own kids are doing.

Some of the results did surprise.  Twenty of the parents surveyed had hosted a party with alcohol for teens — and nearly all said they were aware of the underage alcohol law.  Among students and parents, cigarettes are perceived to be more harmful than either marijuana or alcohol.

But, as often happens, the best information came from the students themselves.

Four members of Staples’ Teen Awareness Group presented their own surveys.  And while 60% of seniors (and 10% of juniors) admitted to drinking and driving, 80 percent said their parents have done the same thing.  When asked whether they’ve ever been in a car with a drunk driver, student after student asked the TAG members:  “Do my parents count?”

You bet they do.  In more ways than they realize, parents count.

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