Safe Sober Prom Night Celebrates 27 Years, Encouraging Kids to “Do It Right!” on Prom Night

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina based nonprofit, Safe Sober Prom Night, presented by Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law, is pleased to be celebrating the 27^th year of Safe Sober Prom Night in the Triad.

(Winston-Salem, NC) Wednesday, April 12, 2017– Safe Sober Prom Night is a non-profit organization co-founded in 1991 by attorney David Daggett of Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law. “The goal of Safe Sober Prom Night is to provide ongoing awareness of the dangers of drugs and alcohol and to encourage positive peer pressure to reduce underage drinking and drug use,” explains Griff Shuler. The program is active in 48 high schools in 10 counties across the greater Triad region of North Carolina.

Safe Sober Prom Night has been using positive peer pressure to help high school students make smart choices for 27 years. The Safe Sober Prom Night program, presented by Daggett Shuler Attorneys at Law, is believed to be the largest and longest running privately funded initiative of its type in the United States. David Daggett, co-founder of the program, says he now meets students whose parents participated in Safe Sober Prom Night when he helped start it in 1991. Daggett Shuler is proud to be bringing the Safe Sober Prom Night message to a whole new generation of teenagers in North Carolina.

A T-Shirt Design Contest, conducted in the fall semester each school year, kicks off the program. Student artists submit original designs encouraging their peers to be safe and sober on prom night.  The winning design is then printed on the front of over 15,000 t-shirts that will be distributed to high school juniors and seniors throughout the Triad. Each year, the winner of the contest is awarded a $500 college scholarship. Many schools incorporate these t-shirts into their spirit week leading up to prom, creating an atmosphere of positive peer pressure encouraging their students to make safe decisions on prom night.

This year, Nestor Gutierrez Flores, a senior at Career Center and West Forsyth High Schools in Forsyth County won the t-shirt design contest and scholarship. David Daggett fondly refers to the day that the t-shirt design contest winner is surprised at his school with the first Safe Sober Prom Night t-shirt and a check for $500 as his favorite day of the year.  “The energy and excitement in the room is infectious when the students realize that one of their classmates has won the contest.” Daggett said.

In addition, each year, Safe Sober Prom Night is pleased to bring a nationally renowned speaker to the Triad to connect with students in at least 10 local high schools. In the fall semester of 2016, Jeremy Bates, a.k.a. “the Hope Dealer” joined David Daggett and Griff Shuler of Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law.  His story of finding hope in a seemingly hopeless upbringing has a profound impact on the students. “This is Jeremy’s third year with the program. Last year, we received an overwhelming response from students, teachers, and administrators telling us how much hope and wisdom Jeremy was able to impart to the students in his time with Safe Sober Prom Night.” Griff Shuler shared. “We are thrilled to have him back for the 2016-2017 school year!”

Perhaps the most well-known event of the Safe Sober Prom Night Program is Pledge Day at each of the 48 participating high schools. David Daggett, Griff Shuler, and volunteers from the staff at their personal injury law firm, Daggett Shuler, visit each school personally before prom to have the students sign a pledge card promising to stay safe and sober on prom night. Each student who signs a pledge card receives a t-shirt bearing the winning design, proclaiming their commitment to being safe and sober to their peers.

“When the program started 27 years ago I had to coax the students to the table to sign the pledge card and get a t-shirt,” Daggett told us. “Many kids in the early 1990’s would stuff their t-shirts in their backpacks.  Now when we arrive at the schools the kids are so eager and enthusiastic about the pledge.  Most will put their t-shirt on right when they receive it, and wear it like a badge of honor for the rest of the day!”

Over the past 27 years, more than 500,000 students have signed the Safe Sober “Do it Right!” pledge with many more to join them this prom season.  “We are so proud of the young people of this community,” David Daggett shared. “They are the best and brightest of their generation. Safe Sober Prom Night is our way of wrapping our arms of support around these students.”

Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law, principal office is based at 2140 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, NC  27104.  The firm handles personal injury claims including serious injuries, automobile accidents, workers’ compensation and social security disability.  They have received national recognition for their Safe Sober Prom Night program.