Friday Night Live starts out strong

As Sutter Union High School enters a new school year, many more opportunities and memories begin to open to us as the year begins at a fast pace. Freshmen look to the new campus with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation, while seniors either loathe or love the idea of only having one more year of high school.

The transition between summer fun and classroom congestion can be a bit unsettling, but some students decided to intertwine an all-too-familiar hectic schedule of student life with their last chance to make their summers end gracefully.

The leading members of Sutter/Yuba Friday Night Live chapter for the 2011-2012 school year attended a Youth Traffic Safety Summit in Anaheim on Sept. 8-11. Not only did they learn about the dangers of distracted driving and methods to help prevent it, but they also started their year off with a bang by meeting new people and working together as a collective whole while riding Space Mountain and the Matterhorn.

SUHS teamed up with neighboring high schools including Wheatland Union High, River Valley High, Live Oak High and East Nicholas High, all arriving at the Paradise Pier Hotel in their purple Leadership Team T-shirts.

"The Youth Summit was an amazing experience because it taught me how to be a better leader in my community, and I got to meet a lot of great people," said Manpreet Randhawa, a senior at SUHS and FNL chapter president.

FNL is one of the various clubs that students can join at SUHS. Developed in 1984, it was named after the statistic showing that the majority of alcohol-related accidents or fatalities occur on Friday nights.

"Friday Night Live is a youth development organization, and we work on youth-led prevention activities to provide support and opportunities for young people in our schools and communities," said Amber Royer, Sutter/Yuba FNL program director.

The program has grown to include many other prevention actions, such as drug and alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy, as well as youth programs, such as FNL Mentoring and Reach.

SUHS had a visit from Motivational Media on Monday to give an inspiring presentation on three huge screens configured to form one. It showed various themes while conveying a positive message. Colby Roberts, a freshman at SUHS, said, "It was motivational when the legally blind guy was wrestling and won every match."

Currently, Friday Night Live is working to provide a haunted house fundraiser as a Halloween event as well as plans to repair the Teen Center in Marysville. FNL is also moving to bring back events such as DUI courts, Casey's Pledge and Challenge Day.

Though the school year has just started, members of the Sutter/Yuba Friday Night Live chapter know how to start the year strong.

Nola and Jayna Dodd are seniors at Sutter Union High School. Their column appears every six weeks in Education.