Speaker Jared Estes presented about the importance of safe driving on Feb. 21.  Estes spoke about his personal tragedy, how he overcame it and how anyone can overcome anything.

Estes had over fifty surgeries since he was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

Senior StuCo officer Brendan Chapman, leader of the SAFE committee at Hays High, asked Estes to speak to the students.

“The committee runs three annual seatbelt surveys and a pledge card drawing each month,” Chapman said. “It’s main goal is to spread awareness for safe driving. The high school demographic is one of the worst when it comes to wearing seatbelts, and we try to fix that.”

Estes pledged his life to become a public speaker, teaching the importance of not drinking and driving and how to overcome personal obstacles.

“We decided to bring Estes in because students connect better when addressed by a speaker,” Chapman said. “They tend to not listen to other students as much. Generally with the speaker, the students have a higher level of respect.”

Freshman Alicia Phileger enjoyed the presentation.

“I thought his presentation was really powerful,” Phileger said.

Estes’s campaign is called “Fire Back,” and he has presented and hundreds of schools and military bases across the United States. You can follow him on Instagram at jestes25, Facebook at Jared Estes, and Twitter at JaredEstes25.

21abrull@usd489.com