The following article was published in the November 2007 issue of  "The SADDvocate", a SADD National E-Newsletter.

SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions)

In the Spotlight this month are the elementary school SADD chapters in the North Bellmore School District in New York.  SADD has many high school chapters and growing numbers of middle-school chapters, but only a handful of elementary school chapters, which is why we thought we'd highlight North Bellmore SADD this month.

Two elementary schools - Gunther and Dinkelmeyer - have SADD chapters in North Bellmore.  These students (mostly sixth graders, who would be middle-schoolers in some towns) are very active in a number of SADD and community-service projects.  Their SADD advisor, Jo Ann Signorelli, reports that they have participated in a wide variety of activities, including a food drive that resulted in front-page coverage in their local paper!

The two chapters worked together on a Great Strides Walkathon for Cystic Fibrosis research, because they have a student in one of their schools with CF.  The SADD students (pictured above) created their own T-shirts for the event, calling themselves the "Starfish Throwers" after the well-known inspirational poem, and raised hundreds of dollars for research towards a cure!

These students gain a knowledge and excitement about SADD and are ready to become an active part of the middle school SADD chapter once they move on from their elementary schools.  Congrats to everyone at North Bellmore SADD!