Father Mercredi High School's SADD chapter has been an active SADD organisation since the 1986-87 school year. Our SADD chapter started off with only one (1) member and one (1) advisor. Currently Father Mercredi SADD has over ninty (90) active members and nine (9) incredible advisors, to make us the largest SADD chapter in Canada. 

Fort McMurray's first SADD chapter was founded when a student named Karen Keels and a teacher named Mr. Gil Espejo got together and discussed the possibilites and potential of the students at Father Mercredi High School. They made a partnership decision to start a SADD chapter at Father Mercredi. Every week they met, and discussed different possible ways to prevent people from drinking and driving. By the second year a few more students had joined. Over a long period of time many students and teachers have continued in their crusade against impaired driving. During the 1998/99 school year, Father Mercredi SADD helped another local high school, Fort McMurray Composite High School, get their own SADD chapter. Both high schools are currently working hard to make Fort McMurray SADD chapters prosperous and strong. 

One of the keys to having a successful SADD chapter is to always think positive. Trust me, things will not always go the way you want them to, but you've just got to keep on getting right back up, and remember why you're involved in the association called SADD. If you ever make a mistake, you know you have one heck of an advisor when they're the first one to kick you in the butt, and then say, "Nice try, too bad it didn't work." 

We as students do have the vision that we can change the world, and reduce deaths caused by impaired drivers. As long as we stick together as a team we will acheive this goal. You cannot become #1 until you have been ONE!!!

Father Patrick Mercredi Community High School SADD accomplishments and acheivments

The main objectives of S.A.D.D. are to educate the public with the dangers of drinking and driving and provide alternatives/solutions to students when they encounter impaired drivers. 

Father Mercredi S.A.D.D. meets every Tuesday. Some of our events and accomplishments include: 

To help prevent impaired driving:

1. We placed a billboard at the entrance of our city promoting anti-impaired driving in our community; as well as placing anti-impaired driving messages in the City Transit Buses and on bus benches (Spring, 1997). We hope to renew the billboard picture in May of 1999. 

2. Coordinating the "liquor bag campaign" every Christmas season for the last 5 years, a program where S.A.D.D. members obtain liquor bags from participating vendors and ask elementary school students to draw/write messages to promote not drinking and driving. For 1998, SADD hosted this event just before graduation. 

3. Participants in the World Conference of Safe Communities that occurred in Fort McMurray in the spring of 1995. This conference was an international conference attended by community leaders world wide. As a result of this conference, the city of Fort McMurray was designated the first North American City to be designated a safe community. 

4. Recruiting Jr. High School Students to form S.A.D.D. chapters within their schools. 

5. Over the past 10 years, we have been blessed with media coverage including CFRN television, Edmonton Journal, our local radio stations, and newspapers. With the help of the media, we have become even more effective in the education and awareness of the perils of drinking and driving. 

6. Responsible for organising many student assemblies at our school which suggest alternative choices for teens when they go to parties, rather than alcohol consumption. During the assemblies, the students are educated with ways to avoid others from drinking and driving. 

7. Coordinating "Sound Off/Send Off", a province wide campaign to promote awareness of the problems of drinking and driving during the Christmas and Graduation season. 

8. Promoting the "Contract for Life" within the student population on of our school. 

9. Hosting the "Red Ribbon" campaign, a program that solicits drivers to tie a red ribbon on their vehicle antennae to indicate their support of S.A.D.D.'s message of anti-drinking and driving (6 years in progress). During the 1997/98 school year FM SADD held this campaign at an RMCP Ball coat check, The Festival of Trees, The Cerabal Palsy Bike Race, and at local gas stations. 

10. Writing and co-producing radio commercials to discourage citisens from drinking and driving during the Christmas Season. The commercials were played 180 times during Christmas of 1996. 

11. Designing SADD T-Shirts, Sweat Shirts, and Sweat Pants as a form of promotion. 

12. Coordinating the wrecked car campaign. During this event a car that has been involved in an impaired driving related accident is placed at the entrance of Father Mercredi CHS for one week. This displays to students the consequences that can result from impaired driving. 

13. Planning to hold a Mock Accident that had involved alcohol. (May 99) 

To further bolster our image within the community, S.A.D.D. gets involved in the following community services:

1. Participating in food drives for the Fort McMurray Food Bank as another way to "give back" to the community and to get our City's recognition that SADD exists throughout the year, not only during holiday seasons. 

2. Organising a team to help with Father Mercredi's Santa's Anonymous program (12 years in progress). Santa's Anonymous is a program organised by Father Mercredi High students where they collect food, money, toys which they distribute to needy families in the Fort McMurray area. Many of our SADD students are Team Leaders for Santa's Anonymous. 

3. Organising school assemblies where paramedics are brought in to show students pictures of vehicles involved in drinking and driving accidents to emphazise the damages caused by impaired drivers. 

4. For the past 10 years, our SADD group has been responsible for organising "SADD Week" at our school just before graduation. We firmly believe that our SADD group greatly contributes to safer graduation activities through our efforts specially during this week. 

5. An active member of the Fort McMurray Safe and Healthy Community Network. At these meetings we discuss different ideas and strategies to assist in making our community safer. 

6. Participants in the Cerebral Palsy Bike Race as racers, babysitters for other racers, and promoters of the cause.  

Father Patrick Mercredi Community High School Students Against Drinking and Driving is recognised as one of the most active S.A.D.D. chapters in Canada. Some of our awards include:

1. Receiving the Joanne Perrota award for being the most active S.A.D.D. chapter in Alberta. This award is presented at the annual Alberta SADD Provincial Conference by SADD Alberta. (1993-1994 as well as 1995-1996) 

2. Recognition by the Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving (C.Y.A.I.D.) executive committee of Father Mercredi's S.A.D.D. outstanding contribution to the goals of S.A.D.D. by selecting two of our members to organise the 1996 conference. Aside from Saskatchewan, there are only 16 members from the rest of Canada selected, two of whom are Father Mercredi High School students. A third member of our SADD group has been invited to be part of a panel to discuss ways of promoting SADD goals. 

3. Receiving the C.Y.A.I.D Membership Award, presented to the SADD chapter which has the largest percentage of members compared to the schools population. 

4. Teacher Advisor Gil Espejo received C.Y.A.I.D Service Award along with 16 other individuals from across Canada for their contributions towards SADD and the starting up of C.Y.A.I.D. 

5. Former SADD President Rick Mayuk received The Hard Rock Enthusiasm Award for participating in all conference events at the 1996 C.Y.A.I.D. National Conference with 100% effort, and for encouraging other members to get involved. 

6. For two conferences, P.A.I.D. (People Against Impaired Driving) has invited Father Mercredi High School SADD to participate and lead events in their conferences, as well P.A.I.D sponsored 3 of our members to attend the 1996 C.Y.A.I.D. National Conference . 

7. Two of our SADD members had been chosen to be part of a Provincial Committee that lead the 1998 Provincial SADD conference.(Former Co-Presidents Michael Mayuk and Amber Prouty). 

8. Two of SADD's previous members (Rick Mayuk, former SADD President and Lisa Kucy, former Publicity Representative) were chosen to be part of a Canadian wide committee to lead the national conference in Kamloops, British Columbia in March of 1997. 

9. Teacher advisor Gil Espejo is a member of the Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving (CYAID) Advisory committee and has been a speaker in numerous CYAID conferences. 

SADD Executive Members 

Alanna Prouty, Co-President
Jodie McLellan, Co-President
Geeta Sudan, Co-Vice-President
Jill McIntosh, Co-Vice-President
Kim Forest, Co-Social Representative
Paul Hutchins, Co-Social Representative
Travis Mercer, Publicity Representative
Tracey Young, Treasurer
Nicole Barrett, Secretary
Nicole Moores, Grade 10 Representative

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SADD Advisors

Mr. Gil Espejo
Ms. Lou-Ann Demers
Mr. Monty Henstridge
Ms. Keri Jefferies
Ms. Linda MacKinnon
Ms. Lisa Miller
Ms. Playford
Mr. Mike St. German
Mrs. Elaine Stoyles

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