GCOE wins ADDY award

A television public service announcement promoting safe teen driving in Glenn County has won a silver ADDY award.

The PSA was produced as part of the “Spotlight on Safety” teen driver safety program sponsored through the Glenn County Office of Education and funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The Willows office of the California Highway Patrol and Thunderhill Raceway Park assisted with production.

The driver safety program, which created the PSA, also includes periodic teen car control clinics at Thunderhill.

“Thunderhill deserves a great deal of credit for the program,” said Arturo Barrera, Glenn County superintendent of schools. “They do all the leg work and are the driving force in keeping the program going. Thunderhill is part of the community. They’re not just running races and contributing to the local economy. Thunderhill is involved in the community making Willows and Glenn County a better place to live.”

The PSA, entitled ‘Heartbeat,” was filmed west of Willows last fall and has been running on local television channels.

“The PSA is aimed at reducing traffic related deaths and injuries in Glenn County caused by teenagers ‘texting’ while driving,” said Thunderhill CEO David Vodden, who presented the ADDY award on Wednesday.

The PSA was directed by Shawn Campbell of Ross-Campbell Inc. of Sacramento. It features Orland High student Kayla Wills, Hamilton High student Danny Cruz, and teen members of Glenn County Friday Night Live Group, a group coordinated by April Hine, of GCOE.

Vodden said credit goes to GCOE for making the driver safety program possible for local teens.

“It is because of them that teens are a lot smarter than they use to be,” Vodden said.

The ADDY Awards is the world’s largest advertising competition with over 50,000 entries annually. Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDYs recognize creative excellence in all forms of advertising.