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February 23, 2014

When friends Julianne Breen and Kristina VanDamme had a three-hour bus ride ahead of them, they thought they would do something productive.

Their French teacher at LCCVI had suggested the class be involved in the Second Annual All-State Canada “Just Drive Canada” contest and the pair wanted to write a song to help people remember texting and driving is dangerous.

“We sat together on the bus for three hours …and wrote the lyrics and the chords for our song on our iPods,” Breen recently told Brooke Alvinston councilors.

When they returned home, Breen sat down at the piano and VanDamme sang the lyrics which in part say “It only takes one second for something to go wrong, It only takes one moment for a life to end. It only takes one person to be strong. It’s only you who can save your friend.”

The teens say the message is supposed to encourage people to stop friends form texting and driving. “It’s about how everyone person could be the difference.”

The teens, who were honoured by council, heard their song had been chosen over 240 entries, they lost their mind. “We were jumping up and down and laughing,” says VanDamme. “We couldn’t even control our reaction…Julianne’s brother was scared we were so crazy.”

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