Friday is not only the last day of school for Floyd County students but it is also the last day you can vote for Coosa High’s student group participating in the ACT OUT LOUD web competition at www.actoutloud.org.  The Coosa High School Technology Student Association (TSA) was selected as a finalist from school entries from across the nation in the “ACT OUT LOUD: Raising Voices for Safe Teen Driving” competition.  The CHS group received a grant of $1,000 and a FLIP Video Camera from The National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), a nonprofit coalition of youth led and youth serving national organizations that focus on youth traffic safety and health.  Coosa High was one of 20 schools to be named as a finalist in the 2009 Act Out Loud contest.  The public from across the country have been allowed to vote on the Web site for the best ideas and projects form the 20 schools that were named as finalists. The top three will win additional grants of up to $10,000 for their school and $5,000 for their national organization. The Internet website is www.actoutloud.org.  Coosa students have used the $1,000 grant to fund awareness activities during the contest.  You can do you part to help the Coosa kids by voting today. 

A team of 6 Coosa High students have led the club’s efforts to promote National Youth Traffic Safety Month during the month of May. The students sponsored several events to promote Teen Safety Awareness at Coosa High and other schools in the area.  The Coosa group was assisted in promoting the program by the Allstate Foundation, a sponsor of the program; several public safety agencies in the area; Representative Barbara Massey Reece, (D) 11th and other students.  The students have posted their ideas to a blog on the contest website, as well as, pictures and videos of their team projects for the public to keep up with their progress. The team captain is Linh Ho, TSA Secretary, and a senior and 4 year TSA member, CHS TSA President Kyle Hubbard a junior, TSA Reporter Kim Alvarado a sophomore, Jackie Watkins, senior, Coosa High School Announcement Coordinator, TSA members  senior Chris King, sophomore Ana Alvarado and freshmen Jasmine Vickers.

Car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the United States. 6,000 youths die annually on our highways across the nation, that’s 16 a day. May is designated as National Youth Safety Month.

Steps youth can take to be safe on the roads include:

• Wearing a safety belt – EVERY TIME
• Driving at or below the speed limit
• Limiting the number of passengers in their car
• Pulling over if they need to make a call or text a friend
• Avoiding drowsy driving by getting enough rest
• NEVER getting in a car with ANYONE who has been drinking alcohol

For more information about National Youth Traffic Safety Month visit www.noys.org or call the Coosa High School TSA at 706-290-8169.

The Coosa High School Technology Student Association (TSA) is a local school chapter of the Georgia Technology Student Association, one of the largest TSA state organizations in the country with over 10,000 members from across Georgia. The Coosa High School TSA is an active chapter that participates in several projects throughout year to promote engineering and technology education at the high school, in the community, and across the state. The chapter currently produces a TV show for Shorter College Athletics that airs locally and regionally and students perform work-based learning with Georgia Public Broadcasting at the Georgia High School Football and Basketball Championships each year. A new project is a TV program called Coosa Valley Veterans that will start airing in April on local channels that will be part of the Great Americans and Save Our History programs, as well as the Library of Congress. The chapter also participates in several other local projects to support engineering technology.