Three students at Chief Gabriel Cote Education Complex and their teacher placed first in the Yorkton Tribal Council (YTC) area in an SGI video competition designed to help curb dangerous driving.
For having placed first in the YTC area in SGI’s Save a Life Video Challenge, the Cote students, who are members of the school’s SADD (Students Against Drinking and Driving) group have received a prize of $6,000, said Sara-Ann Keshane, the teacher who worked with students Elijah Shingoose, Tylan Cote and Shaylin Cote to create the winning video.
Cote students had entered two one-minute videos, Keshane explained. The winning entry dealt with the effects of drinking and driving, while a second one, dealing with distracted driving was made by Desiree Genaille, Shaylin Cote and Tylan Cote with Bryan Dumais as the teacher advisor.
The videos were made in January.
Persons who wish to view the videos may do so on YouTube or on the SGI Facebook site.
The prize money will be used to purchase sports jerseys for the school, Keshane said.
The video project is one of the initiatives of the school’s SADD program which began at the beginning of the 2016-17 term, she said, adding that the group had planned to meet every Tuesday and has also conducted an SGI red ribbon campaign during a week of events in January.
“We plan to hold a “stay awake-a-thon” in March when the participating students will hold a series of activities during 12 hours,” she said.
To raise awareness of road safety issues impacting First Nations communities in Saskatchewan, SGI launched the Save a Life Challenge, said information from SGI. Interested participants were challenged to film and share a brief video highlighting the road safety issues on First Nation roads such as dangers of impaired driving, distracted driving, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.
The percentage of traffic-related injuries and fatalities related to impaired driving, speeding and unrestrained motorists are higher on First Nation roads, compared to the rest of the province, the information said.
"The majority of traffic-related injuries and fatalities are preventable," said Shannon Ell, director of traffic safety promotion at SGI. "By highlighting these issues and sharing the message of road safety, we can make our roads safer — not only for the communities involved in the challenge — but for the province as a whole."
According to SGI, there were 143 injuries and 14 fatalities on First Nation roads in Saskatchewan in 2015 and injuries and fatalities linked to speeding, impaired driving and unrestrained motorists are overrepresented in First Nation communities.
