Heads Up, Eyes Forward

How many students heard the message?
3500

Estimated percentage of your student body?
51-60%

Who has your project aimed to reach?

  • Freshman class
  • Sophomore class
  • Junior class
  • Senior class
  • School professionals
  • Parents
  • Community at large

Objective:
The Heads Up, Eyes Forward team is made up of an enthusiastic group of Lenape Regional High School District students whose mission is to spread the message of safe driving and the dangers of being distracted.

Target Audience:
The Heads Up, Eyes Forward message is targeted to reach the students of the four high schools in the Lenape District (Cherokee, Lenape, Seneca, & Shawnee) as well as members of our eight sending communities (Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle, and Woodland.

Execution:
In September, the team once again distributed magnets during lunch periods at each of our high schools. Each month the team selects one vehicle from each school, to win our Safe Driver of the Month preferred parking spot at their school. Winners also receive gift cards donated by local businesses.

To continue to reach people beyond our local school community, this year we added TikTok to our existing social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Our students were able to produce 23 TikTok videos. The short-form video app is extremely popular among teens and is another avenue for the team to spread the message of safe driving. To date, our TikTok videos have over 10,000 views collectively and we have nearly 900 followers between our 5 social media accounts.

This year we also unveiled a new and creative poster encouraging both drivers and pedestrians to pay attention while on the road. These posters will be displayed throughout our four high schools when our buildings reopen.

And in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Champion Schools Program, Heads Up Eyes Forward presents Headz Up 10! With five new music video parodies and featured on this year’s t-shirt design, the Headz Up 10 compilation celebrates a decade of safe-driving hits with a nod to the popular Kidz Bop franchise.

Heads Up Eyes Forward and four other New Jersey schools had the honor of being highlighted on Teen Kids News in April, for our participation in the U Got Brains competition.

Teamwork:
Our team met several times early in the school year to discuss project design. After the design was set, students were given individual projects that they would lead. They often worked with other team members to implement their particular project. The team met with advisors several times each month to review progress and adjust as necessary. Advisors accompanied team members at school events and during audio and video production.

Use of Resources:
In the fall, one of our team members surveyed dozens of local business to find those interested in partnering with Heads Up, Eyes Forward. Our goal was to obtain coupons and gift cards to be distributed to our Safe Driver of the Month Parking Spot winners. She obtained over 20 gift cards from businesses including pizza shops, coffee shops, bowling alleys and florists.

We intended to hold Heads Up, Eyes Forward Day in April to promote distracted driving awareness month. In years past, we have partnered with local municipalities, police departments, fire/EMS departments, and elementary schools to promote Heads Up, Eyes Forward Day.

Use of Media:
Media is the central way we spread our message. Our website and social media platforms provide us with the ability to deliver fun and engaging content with teens and the community. It also allows us to be active in the safe driving community by following, sharing, retweeting and liking posts by our allies in the community and in the Champion Schools Program. This year we utilized the #HeadzUp10.

Heads Up, Eyes Forward social media sites:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/headsupeyesforward
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headsupeyesfwd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headsupeyesforward
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headsupeyesforward
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadsUpEyesForward

Thoroughness:
Many people consider using your phone the only distraction in a car. We know, and try to educate, that there are many forms of distraction other than just a phone. We also felt that as incidents of pedestrian distraction continue to rise, it was important to emphasize this in our campaign this year. We added significant pedestrian safety messages in things like our poster, t-shirts, and music videos.

Impact:
We had planned to work with our school resource officers to analyze crash statistics in our sending communities over the last decade to see the potential impact of our program. Due to our school buildings closing, we were unable to continue with this.

Sustainability:
Our project has sustainability because we have a brand that continues to remind drivers to be safe year after year. People know our name and logo and know our message. Students who maybe haven’t seen us before freshman year, definitely become familiar with our message throughout their four years in high school.
Hopefully whenever they see our diamond, it’s another reminder of the importance of safe driving.

Unexpected Lessons Learned:
Everyone certainly experienced an unexpected last couple of months. We always begin working on our campaign in the beginning of the school year to give ourselves enough time to accomplish everything that we want to do. This was especially helpful this year as it enabled us to complete many aspects of our campaign before the pandemic. Unfortunately we were unable to complete everything we had planned for this year’s campaign.

Stipend Reporting:

  • Magnets/posters: $544
  • T-shirts: $256

Total: $800

MEDIA