For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

The National Safety Council has awarded the University of Memphis’ Alive at 25 program the Best Performance Award for its outstanding training efforts. This award is presented to those training centers that lead the field in training safer motorists. The program is administered by the University’s division of Professional & Continuing Education. This is the fourth year in a row that the program has received national recognition.

Alive at 25 was started locally in 1996 after a rash of car crashes resulted in the deaths of several teenagers in Shelby County. Since then, more than 20,000 high school students have completed the Alive at 25 curriculum – and only one of those participants has died in a car crash.

During the 2009-10 academic year, Alive at 25 will be taught to ninth grade students in 15 public and independent schools in Shelby and Tipton counties. The City of Germantown, the Town of Collierville and the City of Bartlett all fund the program for their public high schools.

“We are honored by the award, of course, but we are most excited by the response we have received from schools in the area,” said Vicki Murrell, director of Professional & Continuing Education. “We believe that response demonstrates the value of the Alive at 25 program for each teenager who is able to experience it.”

In addition to being in the schools, the Alive at 25 course also is offered as a U of M Professional & Continuing Education class for anyone aged 14-19. For more information about this and other courses, call 901-678-6000 or go online to http://umce.memphis.edu