Yorktown Patch–
Whiz Kid: Elizabeth Brennan
School: Yorktown High School
Accomplishment: Working toward a Girl Scout Gold Award by launching a “No Texting and Driving” campaign.
For most 16-year-olds, texting is just a part of their daily routine.
But Liz Brennan, a new driver herself, who finished her junior year at Yorktown High School, wants her peers to know that no matter how good they are at texting, it is not something they should ever do while driving.
A Girl Scout since first grade, Brennan chose this campaign for her Girl Scout Gold Award—the highest honor for a scout—as way to get the message out to the public and save lives.
She said she heard about ASK—The Alliance for Safe Kids and knew they were looking for teenagers to be speak out and take on the issue of texting while driving.
“I had a family member in Ireland whose car was hit while he was texting and driving and I knew that it was an extremely important issue,” Brennan said.
With her mentors’ guidance, the Yorktown resident began the project and is making a video that will warn of the dangers. It will be given out to health classes at YHS, to the Youth Corps and the DARE program as well as in the middle school.
“Tricy Cushner at ASK and Catherine Quinn at Support Connection, both my mentors, have helped me so much in finding venues to spread the word,” Brennan said.
She will continue to appear at area events, including the Fall Festival and the Support Connection Breast Cancer Walk in October.
Outside of scouting, the youngest of three siblings works as an “enrichment helper” for students in younger grades, participates in the Big Buddy Program, runs cross country and track, and works at the Boys and Girls Club in Mount Kisco.
With so much taught about the dangers of drinking and driving, Brennan explained, many of her peers may not realize what a big deal it is to text or talk on the phone while driving—as well as many adults, she pointed out, who are just as oblivious.
“It is so quick and easy to get seriously hurt or killed for a simple ‘LOL’ or a ‘YEA’ message,” Brennan said. “If I can have an impact on even a couple of people to refrain from texting, this will be fully worth the effort.”