[St. Paul, Minnesota]– Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers. In 2005, more than 5,600 young people (ages 16-20) were killed in motor vehicle accidents (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). In Minnesota alone, 62 young people were killed. However, students at High School For Recording Arts (HSRA) are working to reduce these tragic statistics. These students have earned a $30,000 grant to create a Primary Seatbelt campaign as part of the State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship program.

State Farm is committed to increasing awareness of safe driving habits among high school students. High School for Recording Arts students will create a public awareness campaign focusing on teen driver safety and seatbelt usage that targets their peers, communities and legislators.

“As the nation’s number one insurer of vehicles, State Farm makes it a priority to promote teen driver safety through programs like this,” said Missy Youmans, spokeswoman for State Farm. “This type of Service Learning project gives teens the opportunity to inform their peers on the importance of safe driving habits in an innovative way that is both educational and rewarding.

“High School for Recording Arts and The Fo-Show are proud to be a part of State Farm’s campaign to make Minnesota a primary seat belt law state,” said Tony Simmons, Director of Development for HSRA. “Our students have heard the dire statistics and are now ready to spread the word to their peers all throughout the metropolitan area that seat belts save lives. But most importantly, we need our legislators to also hear this message and to do their part to promote safe driving and to protect teens’ lives. We will take on this challenge like we usually do here at HSRA – using our students’ boundless creativity to educate ourselves and our community with vital information . This will be a great campaign.”

HSRA students celebrated the Chinese New Year, Year of the Rat, with members of the US - China People’s Friendship Association - Minnesota chapter at the Little Szechuan Restaurant in Saint Paul this past weekend. Our students were able to attend this educational and festive event due to a generous donation by the board of directors for USCPFA-MN. In addition to partaking in a scrumptious meal, participants were also treated to a photo presentation of two rural communities in the Shaanxi Province. This year, our students are trying to raise funds so that they can visit one of these communities, An Shang, to learn about their culture and history, as well as to teach English to their elementary-aged students. A very special thank you goes out to Mary Warpeha, President of USCPFA-MN.

If you are interested in helping to support our students and their trip to China, please visit our support page at http://www.hsra.org/support/ and donate to our China trip campaign.

Emancipation Hall, newly built as part of our nation’s Capitol Visitor Center, is 20,000 square feet. People will gather in the room when they visit the Capitol and will be told how slaves helped construct the building in the 1800’s. Representative Zach Wamp, (R-Tenn) along with Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., co-sponsored the bill in the House and Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., sponsored it in the Senate. Lucky Rosenbloom has been instrumental at keeping this issue and the dedication of the hall on the front burner both at the Minnesota legislature and Senator Coleman’s office. The president signed the measure in December 2007. We patiently await the day of dedication and recognition for those slaves who helped build our nation’s Capitol.

Minnesota Representative, Carol McFarlane, (R-53B), joined HSRA students who had questions for Senator Coleman and were recognized by him for their role in passing this historic legislation. The conference was recorded for The Fo-Show which airs Sunday mornings on B96 (96.3FM) and via the web at http://www.thefoshow.com/.