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(From School Presentations)
(Dec 16, 2009) Chris Friesen --------------------------------------------------- The presentation "The Road Ahead" is thought provoking and impactful for students from Grade 9 - 12. It makes them think about what is road rage as well as what to do as a passenger in a road rage situation. This presentation covers many of the road safety messages across many subject areas and grades. As stated in the 2009 OPHEA Road Safety Resource Grades 9 - 12 " to be successful in changing attitudes and behavior, road safety education for students must be relevant and applicable to their lives especially in terms of their health, safety and citizenship" This presentation meets this criteria. Joyce Castanza
--------------------------------------------------- Feedback from Sanford Collegiate near Winnipeg Manitoba (March 20th, 2009) Totally honest. He showed me that I can be a leader in the car, and how I can
be in control, even if I my boyfriend is driving. He wasn't trying to trick us with fake situations. He talked
about real things that happened to people he knew. I thought a presentation on road rage was going to be stupid,
but it was about more than that. It was about taking responsibility
for the people in my car. I don't want to be the driver who lives with
passengers who didn't. Not sugar coated. He told us some terrible things that happened
to his son. I don't know if my parents could do that. On the way home from school I was going to drift around an icy
corner and asked myself his final question. It was a weird feeling,
answering the question "is this worth dying for". Applies to way more than just driving. All the things my parents have been telling me for years…but
I listened this time. (ha ha) His son was hot! He was very matter of fact about everything. He didn't try to
make it into something it wasn't. It was real. My son came home and the told me about the presentation you had
at school. We talked for an hour about it, and I realized that I was
not always being a good roll model. Hard to swallow. I wish my kid had seen the presentation with me. I went home
and talked with her and told her the 3 L's. You tell your kids to "be
safe", seeing this gave me a tool to teach her to take control
of a situation that is not safe. After the presentation my students just wanted to talk about
it. They had questions about everything from, "What do you do if
it is your dad driving?" to "Would you really do that?"
to "Why does he do that presentation?". It was a teachable
moment that I really appreciated. I don't know that other teachers took
the time to do it, but the kids almost needed a debriefing after it
was done. Thank you for doing this for us, Brendan McManus --------------------------------------------------- Joe: Thanks so much for your excellent presentation today. Your story moved our student body considerably. Your message was powerful and timely, especially in the context of our recent WPC student-athlete tragedy. The response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, even from students who I thought might find the hour "boring". I've never seen a group of 300 kids at WPC sit on a hardwood floor for that long.. You really did capture their attention, and I can tell you, from personal experience, that students DO NOT sit that long on a hardwood floor at rapt attention for anybody … but they did for you and your story. I could see that you were emotionally exhausted by the end, and must feel the same every time you re-tell the story. Thank you for undertaking this important mission and for finding the courage to tell the story. You have made a difference in the lives of our students today. Thank you very, very much, Adriano Adriano Magnifico, Program Head -----------------------------------------------
(This one from a parent who brought her son to a public presentation) Hello Joe, I truly wish there had never been a reason for you to take on this personal challenge but on behalf of all parents, I thank you for your courage and dedication. Sincerely, Cathy Miller ----------------------------------------------- Joe,
I have been involved in running accident preventation assemblies for many years. While all of them have had great impact, I can say without question that your presentation this past week had the most significant impact on students and staff. You connected with the students from the moment you took the microphone until the conclusion of the presentation. I can't begin to thank you enough for turning your own family tragedy into something positive that will, undoubtedly, live on long beyond any of our lifetimes. Jason would be proud.
Bob Worrall Head, Social Science
----------------------------------------------- Dear Joe; I am a grade 11 student at SCITS high school in Sarnia. I attended a presentation you gave at our school two years ago and wanted to say how much it opened my eyes and how much it is still in my heart today. This thanks is a little bit late, but I decided that it needed to be said. Just recently I nearly lost someone very close to me as a result of road rage; as it turned out he was only bumped and bruised, but when I learned my friend was run off of the road, the first thought that came into my mind, was an image of Jason and the story your family shared with us. I just wanted to say, that if no one else out of those 650 students
was changed, I was. I saw my friend that day, and told him that I needed
to tell him something, I told him about Jason and the story you shared
with us; he visited your website, and took the quiz and found himself
to be a bit of an aggressive driver. He has since changed how he drives
and is more careful to think before he carries out his actions. It is
because of Jason's story that he has changed. If there were anything
i could do to be a part of your foundation I would really really like
to, as sort of a thanks for saving the life of one of the people i love
the most. ----------------------------------------------- Mr. Edmonds, On behalf of the Catholic Central student council and all the students
at C.C.H., I would like to thank you for the presentation you recently
gave at our school. It is often very difficult to make high school students
listen during assemblies but, while you spoke, the gym was completely
silent. I have never seen our students so caught up in a presentation.
They watched with rapt attention and I believe that you really made
an impact on them. -----------------------------------------------
"... The impact of your presentation has caused me to reflect upon your words throughout the day and well into the evening. Although I have not lost a child, I have buried many a student due to a variety of circumstances; most of which were to due to vehicular accidents. In addition, over the last twenty years of teaching, I have seen many a presentation in regard to driving issues. Your presentation by far, was simply outstanding." Sharon Beeler, Banting Secondary School ------------------------------------------------ Dear Joe, Your presentation was indeed geared to the students and they responded very well. The personal touch you bring with having lost a son through this behaviour certainly drove home the reality of the consequences that can occur. Through your son's death, you were able to reach the kids at a level that captured their attention and their hearts. I believe we all grieved with you; I know I did. We could only imagine the pain of your loss and what it could be like for anyone of us in the audience. The participation you requested from the audience as they stood and reflected on the questions you put before them was especially effective since every one of us in that room had to reflect on behaviours that met the definition of "road rage". It has many colours!!! Your PowerPoint presentation is extremely well done and the closing with a song by Jason's mother was very powerful. Following the presentation, I found that several students wanted to discuss this issue. I would recommend that time be allocated in the classroom for further discussion of the topic. Kids wanted to talk about experiences they had had and how you were able to make them focus on this issue. It would provide for a great opportunity to have kids listen to each other and for teachers to share some of their experiences as well. I would recommend your presentation to other schools and I would be pleased to speak with anyone that might have questions about your presentation and its impact on kids. We all had the opportunity to reflect on our past behaviours and what we should have done instead of giving in to "road rage". You may have saved one of us the pain you went through. Many thanks for sharing your life with us and for helping us look at life situations differently. I wish you well in your future presentations. Sincerely, Bob Guilbeault, Vice-Principal Sarnia Collegiate & Technical School (SCITS) ------------------------------------------------
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