A group of SHS students needs your help to make our roads a safer place for all – and to win a regional competition.
SHS Team Rival is a club that competes in yearly challenges from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office to promote awareness about distracted and impaired driving.
To win this year’s challenge, club members need ALL SHS students to watch a video about the effects of marijuana on drivers’ brains and to complete a 10-minute survey.
Students who complete the survey and show their proof of completion will receive candy and one hour of community service credits for their participation. Students who would like extra candy and an extra hour of community service credits can print out or email survey responses and submit to a Team Rival member during lunch from April 22 – May 3.
“By talking about these effects and the consequences of driving while under the influence, we hope that more students will think carefully about these decisions before they make them, break down rumors about Marijuana and driving, and decrease the amount of accidents and fatalities due to Marijuana influenced driving, which we have seen an increase in since recreational Marijuana became legal,” said club member Allie Bishop-Mote.
Team Rival’s goal is to decrease the amount of accidents and fatalities related to impairment behind the wheel. The Team Rival Program looks to achieve these goals through yearly challenges implemented in our school communities to promote safety and educate our peers about the implications and consequences of their actions.
Here’s how the competition works. Thirty-one high schools are split up into brackets, and within those brackets compete in a series of challenges every school year. Sharon competes in Bracket 6 against Stoughton, Canton and Foxborough, and SHS has won this bracket for the past several years.
To win this bracket this year, Sharon Team Rival needs to get 20 points in each of its five challenges. The 100-point winners in each bracket get a $1,500 grant for their school.
This year’s challenges are the “Shifting Gears: The Blunt Truth About Marijuana and Driving” video and survey; the “Firesense Program: Until Help Arrives” speaker series; “Fatal Vision Goggles” program; and the “Mindwise Innovations: Signs of Suicide” program.
To get credit for the programs, SHS Team Rival needs to implement them at school. However the survey is different. SHS needs to have the most responses to the form out of all the other schools.
“So to help guarantee Sharon Team Rivals victory, ideally every student in the school would fill out the form,” Bishop-Mote said.
The survey consists of 10 questions about information found in the video, such as: “How long is THC detectable in your bloodstream?” None of the questions require students to share personal information or anecdotes. The first 4 questions will ask students for their first name, last name, email address (school or personal is fine) and school name. None of this information is stored, and the only people who have access to the survey responses are the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Students can find the survey link, information and directions at
- Health classes (ask your health teacher for more information)
- Sports teams (ask your coach for more information)
- Sharon publications including The Talon, The Dispatch, The Newsletter
- School televisions
- Flyers with QR codes around school and in classrooms
- Team Rival’s table outside the SHS cafeteria (April 22nd – May 3rd; this is also where students collect candy and compensation)
Team Rival is a program run by the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office with the goal to train peer leaders, and decrease the number of car accidents due to distracted or impaired teen drivers. Team Rival presents yearly challenges designed to reach out to high school students throughout the county with the goal of spreading awareness and encouraging safety.
Team Rival gets their challenges and prize from the previous competitive year at the annual Peer Leadership Conference in November of each year.