This past weekend Dominion DECA competed at the State Leadership Conference in Virginia Beach. Dominion placed well at the competition but Joshua’s Hands, comprised of senior Kirsten Chun and juniors Joey Pavich and Bryce Griffin, will be heading to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Nashville, Tennessee for the third year in a row.
Joshua’s Hands is a non-profit organization that was started by Joshua’s mother after her son was killed in a tragic car accident due to distracted driving. In his memory, his family has raised awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
Chun has worked on this project for several years now, and this year she decided to add Pavich and Griffin to the team. “We wanted underclassman to be able to continue the project,” Chun said. “We knew our personalities would click.”
This year, the Joshua’s Hands team put on several events in order to promote the severity of distracted driving. One of these events, The Day of the Dead, was a symbolic exercise where fifteen pre-selected students were pulled out of class and were instructed to change into all black clothing. They were not permitted to talk or interact with any student for the rest of the day. These fifteen students symbolized the number of deaths per day due to distracted driving.
“We wanted to show what life would be like if it happened to someone they knew, distracted driving accidents happen more than people think,” Chun said.
Chantilly Auto Body also partnered with the Dominion Joshua’s Hands team and had a car that was wrecked from a distracted driving accident placed prominently in front of the school. The act showed the dangerous effects of even sending just a quick text message to a friend, or even changing the radio station.
“94% of DHS Students have been a passenger when the driver has committed an act of distracted driving. This number is way too high and I understand now that it can happen to anybody,” said Pavich. “Joshua’s Hands is not just a great DECA project, it is an important mission,” added Griffin.