Their Roads. Their Lead.

The Be The Change Fellowship is a year-long program that equips high school students to lead road safety efforts in their schools and communities. Five Suffolk County student groups will be selected as 2026–27 Fellows. Each group receives training, mentorship, and resources to plan and deliver its own peer-to-peer campaign.

The fellowship is led by the Stony Brook Trauma Center Injury Prevention Team and Stony Brook Children’s Pediatric Trauma Center. It is built on the award-winning, evidence-based Be The Change model from Impact Teen Drivers, a national leader in teen road safety.

Be The Change is for Changemakers: students who are ready to take inspired action and lead the way toward safer roads in their schools and communities.

Changemakers come with different goals, and all of them are welcome here.

• You want to make a difference. Everyone uses the road: drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of e-bikes and e-scooters. Roadway injuries are among the leading causes of death and serious injury for young people, and they are preventable. Peers have a powerful influence on one another, which makes students some of the most effective messengers for change. As a Fellow, you’ll help create a culture where safe choices are simply what everyone does. That means buckling up, putting the phone away, wearing a helmet, slowing down, crossing with care, and speaking up as a passenger.
• You love to create. Be The Change is a chance to explore creative communication and marketing with a real audience. You can design posters, launch social media campaigns, film videos, and write and perform skits or songs. Along the way, you’ll test which messages truly connect with your peers.
• You want to grow as a leader. Fellows plan and lead their own projects, work alongside trauma center professionals and community partners, and join a network of road safety champions. That experience strengthens college, scholarship, and internship applications.
• Any student group can apply. Existing clubs like SADD, student government, or service clubs are a natural fit. So are arts and media groups like theater, dance, chorus, band, art, film, broadcast, yearbook, and the school newspaper, as well as athletic teams. Newly formed groups are welcome too.
• Better together. Lead groups are encouraged to partner with other student groups at their school. For example, a service club might team up with the art club on posters, the broadcast team on morning announcements, or a sports team on an activity at a game. Every partnership builds more leaders and reaches more students, families, and neighbors.
  All applicants must be a high school student group in Suffolk County with a faculty or staff advisor and a supporting school administrator.

Each school submits one application through our online form. The application names:

• The lead student group and its student leaders (at least 10)
• A faculty or staff advisor
• A supporting school administrator

Applications are due Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Apply here: APPLICATION LINK

A review team scores every application using the same rubric, looking at the strength of the group’s ideas and plan, support from school leadership, and the needs of the community. To see exactly how applications are scored, view the scoring rubric: RUBRIC PDF LINK

All applicants will be notified by Tuesday, December 8, 2026.

No. There is no cost to schools or students. Training, mentorship, and activity supplies are provided through the fellowship. Schools contribute the time of their advisor, administrator, and student leaders.

Fellows take part in interactive Learning Labs, offered in person or on Zoom, led by the Stony Brook Trauma Center Injury Prevention Team. Labs cover road safety topics, positive messaging that highlights the safe choices most people already make, and hands-on activities students can run themselves. The labs use a “learning by doing” approach that builds students’ confidence to lead activities on their own. Each group also gets one-on-one support from a dedicated graduate student.

Each group creates an action plan and leads road safety activities for its school and community throughout the year. Over the course of the fellowship, each group will:

• Deliver at least one road safety program to at least one grade level (more are encouraged, including younger students in their district’s elementary and middle schools)
• Take part in at least one community event that reaches parents or other community members
• Design and conduct at least one simple road safety evaluation, such as a survey or observation
• Track their activities and share what worked
• Help design the Lead-the-Leader Toolkit so other schools can launch their own programs

Groups are also encouraged to enter a road safety media contest, such as Create Real Impact, Streets, Art, S.A.F.E., or a New York State contest.

Fellows design year-round activities that fit their school and community. Examples include:

• Posters and signage that celebrate the safe choices most teens already make
• Social media posts and videos created by students, for students
• Morning announcements with quick road safety tips and facts
• Hands-on activities at school events, such as a seat belt relay race, a distraction obstacle course, or a sports drill thatshows how hard it is to multitask
• Tabling at community events like health fairs and safety days
• Presentations to younger students in their district’s elementary and middle schools
• Media contest entries that share a road safety message
• A student-led survey or observation to measure safe behaviors in their school

Each Fellowship group can request up to $2,000 in supplies for educational activities. Supplies are purchased by the Stony Brook Trauma Center Injury Prevention Team after review, so no funds are paid directly to schools. Because the fellowship is grant funded, supplies must be educational; prizes and giveaways are not allowed.

Groups can also borrow Impact Teen Drivers educational materials from the Injury Prevention Team throughout the school year. These materials are separate from the $2,000 supply budget.

The fellowship runs from December 2026 through September 2027.

Fall 2026

• Applications due November 24, 2026
• Schools notified by December 8, 2026
• Kickoff and first action planning meeting with each group before winter recess

January – March 2027

• Learning Labs on road safety, positive messaging, and interactive activities
• Groups launch their first activities with support from the Injury Prevention Team

April – June 2027

• Groups build on what worked and continue activities in their school and community
• Groups complete their grade-level program, community event, and road safety evaluation

July – September 2027

• Fellows share feedback to help finalize the Lead-the-Leader Toolkit for the 2027–28 school year
• We celebrate and share each group’s accomplishments

Schools that apply but are not selected will be invited to join select Learning Labs. These sessions help student groups lead their own road safety activities independently.

• Impact Teen Drivers: https://www.impactteendrivers.org
• Be The Change Toolkit: https://www.impactteendrivers.org/bethechange/toolkit