1. CLICK IT FOR STEPH:
A SAFETY AWARENESS
CAMPAIGN
Colorado Mountain College
Glenwood Springs, CO
Katie S. Richard W. Brooke L. Jessica A. Tyler P. Melanie A. Brittney M. Erick Z. Alex C. Nick
S. Abbie K.
Promoting Safety with Dum-Dum‟s and
Chocolate

2. In the Face of Tragedy…
On the night of October 20, 2011, four
Colorado Mountain College students
were involved in a serious car
accident… three survived. Stephenie
Jo Zgorzynski died on the way to the
hospital after being thrown from the
car that had rolled multiple times. The
survivors each sustained injuries
serious enough to require at least a
one night stay in the hospital. Injuries
included: a broken back, broken elbow
and deep facial lacerations. Because
Steph had not been wearing her
seatbelt, CMC‟s PEAK Performance
decided that it was necessary to raise
awareness about the five seconds it
takes to buckle a seatbelt.

3. Turning Adversity into Action
After the accident, we as a
health and wellness group,
knew that we needed to
act. We spent time
planning our campaign,
always remaining
respectful to anyone that
was involved. Rather than
a one-day event, we, as
PEAK, decided to repeat
our event every few weeks Each PEAK member had an equal
at multiple locations to role in planning and participating in
interact with as many each event that took place. Jobs
people as possible while included making signs, handing out
reinforcing the importance candy bars, photographing,
of wearing a seatbelt- no planning, collaboration, shopping,
matter how short the drive! and organizing materials (signs,

4. A Team Effort to Promote
Safety
We made signs to encourage safe
driving but out efforts were our main
advertising: as students, faculty, and
community members drove in and out of
campus, we gave them full-size candy
bars if they were wearing seatbelts and
passed Dum-Dum lollipops to those who
were not.
Engaging with those who stopped was
immensely more effective than putting up
signs or holding a one-time event.
Handing out candy bars every couple
weeks encouraged safety and everyone
was happy about it… even the bicyclist
that got a Snickers for wearing his helmet!

5. CMC PEAK Makes NOYS!
Raising awareness and speaking in honor of
Steph, CMC‟s PEAK Performance dedicated
days to distracted driving simulators, distracted
driving programs and of course our flagship
Seatbelt Awareness Program. Unlike Tyler
Presnell, featured by NOYS, Steph did not
survive a car crash. For months our student body
focused on the tragedy, but we, as PEAK,
decided that it was time to reach out to our
community. We began with the Youth Turn
Project Planning Worksheet.
Inspired by what Dianne Feldman did
for her daughter Casey, we
collaborated with other clubs on
campus to plant a tree as a memorial

6. Everyday Awareness
In an effort to create a permanent reminder of the
dangers of not wearing a seatbelt, PEAK
purchased signs to be hung around campus. The
signs read: “Click It 4 Steph. In loving memory of
Steph Jo Zgorzynski 3/20/93 – 10/20/11” We
plan to expand this awareness by purchasing
more signs and extending the reach from the
campus community to the local community. By
doing this, we hope to prevent future accidents by
reminding everyone leaving campus to fasten
their seatbelts.

7. Community Efforts
Throughout this process,
other groups on campus
became very interested in
what we were doing and
because of this we
collaborated with many of
them on our efforts. These
groups include: Student
Activities Council, Vet Tech
program, Women‟s Forum,
Student Government
Campus Store, Roaring
Fork Co-op, Residence Life
Staff, Student Calla Fisher, the young women in the front
Ambassadors, Glenwood
local nursery, and CMC row second from the left was one of the
Administration. The help passengers in the accident. She sustained a
that we received from serious back injury that effected her
outside sources led to the everyday life. She was an active participant
success of this program. and eager to join our efforts.

8. Continuing Efforts
Taking inspiration from the Oprah Winfrey show
we continued our efforts to educate students on
distracted driving. “No Phone Zone” is a program
that informs students not only of the dangers of
using a cellular phone while diving but other forms
of distraction as well. At the end of the event we
invited students to sign a pledge (below picture)
stating they would not use their phone while
Seeing the driving.
bracelets on the
NOYS website, our
group decided to
make our own
“Click It For Steph”
bracelets to honor
Steph.

9. Response and Feedback
“The PEAK students chose to create a
positive outcome from a tragic student
accident. We all need to be reminded of the
importance of ALWAYS wearing seatbelts and
the “Click it for Steph” campaign does this
while memorializing a caring, loving student
“ „Click It For Steph‟ is an excellent whose life ended so unexpectedly.”
example of how our students turned a –Lisa Doak
tragic event into a respectful learning (CMC Dean of Student Affairs)
opportunity for the students as well as
college personnel. PEAK Performance
developed innovative strategies that
not only changed behavior but
ultimately saved lives. Their dedication
to respectfully honoring a student‟s
memory is an inspiration to us all.”
–Mark McCabe
(Assistant Vice President of Student

10. The Big Picture
The responses we have received from the community have been very
supportive and positive. We truly feel like we have made an impact on
students with these efforts and this is apparent through the increased
involvement on campus. When we began this campaign, our overall goal was
to highlight the preventable nature of this tragedy. Taking action gave our
students that were directly involved an emotional outlet, something positive to
focus on, and a sense of accomplishment. We will continue the “Click It For
Steph” campaign in upcoming semesters at CMC. Our future goals are:
purchase more traffic signs for the community, continue with the candy bar
seatbelt campaign, extend the bracelet giveaway, and never forget Stephenie
Jo Zgorzynski.
Click it for Safety
Click it for Steph
Click it for You