Neighborhood resident helps to keep teenagers out of harm’s way on prom night
Neighborhood resident Liza Orchard is working hard to make sure our kids are safe on prom night.
Last year, Orchard, with the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), launched BuzzFree Prom, a pilot program to drive student participation in MADD’s “PROMise To Keep It Safe” initiative.
“Most teenagers think they’re impenetrable, that nothing’s ever going to happen to them,” Orchard says of her reasons for starting the program. “They often don’t recognize the benefit of making the right choice until it’s too late.”
The response to the 2003 program was tremendous. Twenty-two high schools in the DFW area participated, with an average of 40 percent of prom goers signing a pledge not to drink on prom night. In exchange, those who signed up received a BuzzFree Prom card, which they then were able to use to obtain discounts on things such as prom apparel, cosmetics, flowers, limousine rentals and more from participating merchants.
Mike Moretta, of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, says his school had an overwhelming response.
“Seventy-eight percent of our students signed up for the program, and in an informal survey, we learned that 85 percent kept that pledge,” says Moretta, counselor and director of diversity. “BuzzFree Prom was super-effective for Jesuit in promoting the choice to be drug- and alcohol-free for prom.”
That kind of response has launched the program into its second year with even more enthusiasm. It’s expanding into Houston, San Antonio and Austin schools, and has garnered interest from schools in New York. Moretta adds that 35 Jesuit high schools all over the country are incorporating the program this year.
“This year, we’re way ahead of the curve,” says Orchard, a veteran of the advertising and promotions industries. “We pretty much have a high school coming aboard every day.”
Much of the program’s success, she adds, has been due to the enormous help she’s received from other neighborhood residents who’ve donated their efforts, including photography, Web site design, graphic design and more.
The natural assumption is that Orchard must be a bit of a teetotaler, but she’s quick to assert that’s not the case. Though she did lose a friend to a drunk driver in 1986, she stresses she’s not out to preach and judge.
“It’s not about getting people to quit drinking,” she says. “But if you acknowledge kids for making the responsible decision, and then reward them, they will entertain making that choice.”
And she doesn’t have blinders on either. She realizes that once kids sign the pledge, there is nothing to keep them from drinking on prom night.
“But the fact is, they made a choice, and it’s going to be in the back of their minds. Hopefully, there’s that little guy on your shoulder who says, ‘You said you wouldn’t do this.’
“That’s all we can do,” she says.
Visit www.buzzfreeprom.com for details. For information about sponsorship levels and merchant incentive ideas, contact Eric Terry at 972-991-4501.
