“One Life, One Choice”

National Teen Driver Safety Week

By Samantha DePriest

This past week was National Teen Driver Safety Week. Trinity Christian School partnered with local non-profits and emergency response units to help educate our high school students on the importance of safe driving. Instead of simply sharing the life saving message with our young drivers, various speakers, experiences, and activities were held on campus to engage students so they could truly understand the risks of distracted driving..

“The number one killer of teenagers continues to be car accidents and motor vehicle fatalities.. This is not something we can take lightly, and we are committed to being a part of the solution! During the week of Oct. 16-20, the Trinity high school faculty in partnership with the Abby’s Angels Foundation focused on raising awareness to encourage and challenge students to do all they can to become responsible drivers and make wise decisions while riding in vehicles.” 

Each day of the week our TCS High School leadership team wove the importance of staying alert and focused while driving into the school day. With over 500 students in our high school learning how to drive and riding as passengers with new drivers, it is more important than ever to teach our next generation how they can save their own lives and those of their friends and family. Teen driving statistics are a reminder of the importance of the partnership with families to prepare students for life.

Abby’s Angels

We were blessed to welcome Natalie Bacho back on campus to share the story of how her family’s life was instantly changed by a distracted teen driver on December 22, 2012. Natalie’s family had just finished a full day of family fun of rollerskating, mass, dinner, and looking at Christmas lights. They were headed back to their home in Newnan when a young man ran a red light because he was texting and driving and hit the Bacho family van. Abby was just nine years old at the time and she was full of life, love, and joy. She was immediately life flighted to a hospital in Atlanta but the injuries from the crash were too much for her little body to survive. Precious Abby entered into heaven on Christmas day.

While Abby’s time on earth was sadly cut short, her legacy and impact on our community continues to live on. Several of Abby’s organs were donated to children in need which saved their lives on Christmas day in 2012. What a tremendous gift for those children and their families to receive. Abby’s story of love and giving continues to touch the lives of hundreds and thousands in our community and around the world. The Bacho family has turned a tragedy into a testimony while helping to change safe driving laws, educate students on safe driving, give away hundreds of dollars in scholarships to students, and much more through the creation of the Abby’s Angels Foundation.

Abby’s Angels Foundation has partnered with TVOC, Teen Vehicle Operations Course, to provide an 8 hour hands-on instruction behind-the-wheel course taught by local police officers. The course is spread over two days for new drivers and their parents to attend together both in a classroom setting and out on the road. The driving course fills up fast and is worth the wait. To learn more about Abby’s Angels Foundation and TVOC, click the buttons below.

Natalie also helped lead activities on campus during National Teen Driver Safety Week for our students. On Friday, October 13th Natalie introduced her friend Mike Lutzenkirchen to the TCS school community. Mike and his wife tragically lost their son in a car crash in June 2014 caused by drunk driving and no seat belts.

Lutzie 43

On June 29, 2014 Mike Lutzenkirchen’s son Philip was killed in a car crash just weeks after his 23rd birthday. Philip Lutzenkirchen was a football tight end, who played at Auburn University, finishing his career as the school's all-time leading receiver in touchdowns among tight ends, He had everything going for him until he made a choice to ride in a car with a driver who had been drinking that forever changed his family and ultimately ended his life.

The Story of Philip Lutzenkirchen

With God’s help, Philip’s Dad Mike turned a tragedy into a testimony and created the “Lutzie 43 Foundation” to encourage people to “Live like Lutz. Love like Lutz. Learn from Lutz.” Mike spoke to our student body about Philip’s legacy and asked them to consider what legacy they are leading. While football fans know Phillip for his accomplishments on the football field, he was known and remembered for his kindness, generosity and dedication to his community.

Mike taught about the difference between a crash and an accident and how crashes can be prevented by taking “43 Key Seconds” before driving a car. He pleaded with students that “unless you have a job or medical emergency, you should not be on the roadway past midnight.” He encouraged our students to be available to what God has in store for their lives and to give of their treasure, time, talent, and tenderness to those around them. To learn more about Philip’s foundation and scholarships available, click on the button below:

National Teen Driver Safety Week

Our TCS High School leadership team shared, “Our students were exposed to several different eye-opening experiences this past week. They were encouraged to take pictures and videos with their phones and share memories on the TCS Student Council Instagram page so it could be shared with our community.”

Activities included a Seat Belt Challenge, Coweta County fireman sharing their experience with car crashes, TVOC Representative, Natalie Bacho from Abby’s Angels Foundation sharing Abby’s story and about the Abby’s Angels Scholarship, a Memorial Video of Abby Bacho, prayer time over TCS cars in the parking lot, writing out messages of encouragement on the sidewalks on campus, wearing drunk goggles, obstacle courses to learn how hard it is to drive straight when you are distracted or under the influence, safe driving videos, sign banner and pledge card, and enjoy Abby’s favorite snack - Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Students were fully engaged in the experiences and hopefully will remember these important lessons every time they get into a car. The student body also spent time worshipping together in the stadium and praying for both the Bacho and Lutzenkirchen family’s. May God continue to be glorified in these heartfelt efforts of the families of Abby and Philip who left this earth too soon. We will be forever grateful for them sharing their stories to inspire our students.