Meet Jess and Chanalee: Their Journey with SADD
Recently, Mark sat down with South Canterbury SADD student of the year Jess Cradock and SADD National Leader Chanalee Walter-Duncan to discuss road safety, youth voice and their experience with SADD. Check out their epic convo below!
Tell us a bit about yourself!
Chanalee:
I'm Chanalee. I'm Year 13 at Geraldine High School. I love reading, baking, and spending time with my friends and family. I also work, and right now, I’m finishing Avatar—it's long, but worth it! My favorite food is cheese and salad.
Jess:
I'm Jess Cradock. I’ve just finished my last year of high school, and this year, I’m doing a course in Creative Media at UB Colleges. I went to Geraldine High School, and I love playing rugby and hanging out with my friends. My favorite food is pasta bake, and my favorite color is green.
How long have you been involved with SADD?
Chanalee:
A year and a bit.
Jess:
I've been involved for a year now.
Why did you decide to get involved in the first place?
Chanalee:
So I have this wonderful friend named Jessica, who I take geography with, and who likes to enforce all her ideas on people. She got me involved, and then we grew the concept—now we love it!
Mark:
Love a bit of positive peer pressure!
Jess:
I decided to get involved because I'm a volunteer firefighter. My deputy principal approached me last year and asked if I’d be interested in taking over SADD at school. It had kind of dwindled away due to COVID, and past leaders hadn’t been able to pass it on. I wanted to bring it back, and that became my job.
What's your experience been like with SADD?
Chanalee:
My experience has been great! It’s such a lovely group of people with lots of ideas.
Jess:
It’s been really positive. I’ve met new people and made connections in the community that I probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t joined SADD.
What have you learned through SADD?
Jess:
My perspective has changed on how road crashes impact people. Before, I mostly thought about how dangerous drivers were making bad choices. I never really considered the ripple effects—how their actions could change lives forever.
Chanalee:
I’ve realised how big an issue road safety is in New Zealand. You can get caught up in your own world and not understand how serious it is until it directly affects you. I just got my license this year, so learning about these issues has been eye-opening.
What have been your favorite SADD activities or events?
Jess:
For Road Safety Week, we took over our school’s PSE period (where we learn life skills). We ran activities, quizzes, and played an interactive road safety video. The feedback from teachers and students was awesome!
My favorite event, though, was the SADD Conference in Wellington. I was nervous at first because I didn’t know anyone, but I made so many cool friends. We even created a campaign video to help new SADD groups use available resources. I still keep in touch with the friends I made, and we’re even planning to go to a festival together next year!
Chanalee:
I loved the national leadership event in Christchurch. I also enjoyed the guest speakers, quizzes, and road safety facts during road safety week that we organised, even though Jess ditched me for a rugby tournament (laughs).
Would you encourage others to get involved in SADD? Why?
Chanalee:
Yes! Learn to use your voice. There are real issues out there that impact all of us. Driving is something we all do, and road safety needs more awareness. Your voice matters.
Jess:
I totally agree. As young people, we’re the future, and we need to understand the importance of road safety. Sharing the SADD message helps make our communities safer.
Has SADD influenced you in any way?
Jess:
Definitely! I remember hearing someone say, “Speeding might save you two minutes, but is it worth the risk?” That really stuck with me. Now, whenever I see someone speeding, I think about how dangerous it is.
Chanalee:
Same here. Stories from guest speakers, and the statistics from the police made me realise how real the consequences are. Driving isn’t just about you—it affects everyone on the road.
Jess:
People forget how dangerous cars actually are because we’re so used to them. Just because nothing bad happened last time doesn’t mean it won’t this time.
Chanalee:
You’re not just driving for yourself; you’re driving for everyone on the road.
Jess:
Exactly. Laws exist for a reason.
Jess, tell us about your connection with FENZ. Do you see any parallels with SADD?
Jess:
I joined the Geraldine Volunteer Fire Brigade when I was 16. Being involved with FENZ opened my eyes to how dangerous car crashes really are. A lot of the crashes we respond to involve speeding, bad road conditions, or drivers not paying attention.
SADD and FENZ both focus on safety, but SADD helps spread the message before crashes happen. Volunteer brigades don’t always have the time to run community education events, so having SADD groups in schools helps share that message with more people.
Mark:
And there’s massive power in that. The fact that we’re sitting here having this conversation today will hopefully inspire others to talk about it too.
Chanalee, what’s it like being a National Leader? Any plans for 2025?
Chanalee:
Being a National Leader is great! It’s an awesome group of people, and we have a lot of support. We’re still developing our projects for 2025, but one area we’re looking into is drink driving. The drinking culture in New Zealand is a big issue, and I’d love to work on a campaign that raises awareness and makes an impact—starting locally and then expanding nationally.
Final thoughts on youth voice, road safety, and peer-to-peer education?
Chanalee:
It all starts with having a SADD group at your school. Once you build that foundation, you can set goals and create real change.
Jess:
Don’t be afraid to start one! You’ll have so much support from the SADD team.
Massive thanks to Jess and Chanalee for sharing their stories and insights! Their passion for road safety is inspiring, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve next. 🚗💛