Keeping Teens Safe on the Road with The ART of Driving: Our May Community Outreach Partner

Ashley Renee Thompson lost her life in a singular vehicular accident on June 10, 2003 — she was just sixteen years old. She was an advanced placement student, a competitive gymnast, and loved by her friends and peers. Her mother created The ART of Driving in memory of her daughter to increase awareness among teens and parents of the unique risks faced by young, novice drivers and to impress upon them the need for improved training, increased supervised time behind-the-wheel, and increased parental involvement. The ART of Driving is also advocating for improvements in driver education for our youth and seeks to change the mindset of teens and their parents that tragedies like this “won’t happen to me”.

We are proud to once again partner with The Art of Driving as our May Community Outreach Partner. This is our sixth year supporting The Art of Driving through our Community Outreach Partner program. We will be donating $1 from every haircut this May to this wonderful, local non-profit whose mission is to keep our children safe.

We would love for you to learn more about teen driving, particularly during the most dangerous driving season for teens: prom and graduation season. What can you do as a parent, grandparent, Godparent, Uncle, Aunt, friend to help save a child’s life? The Art of Driving has various resources to help. They can assist with starting a Teen Task Force at school or in a youth club or group. They will come speak at PTSA, Teen Night, Driver’s Education classes, SGA or any other interested group to help educate and enable our local youth to be more responsible and aware drivers. Other things you can do to help your children and to support The Art of Driving:

1. Have your child(ren) sign The Art of Driving Pledge.
2. Purchase a copy of How the Firefly Got Its Name, written by Ashley when she was just twelve. (If your kids are too old for this book consider a purchase to donate to your local school library).