On an uncharacteristically chilly day in April, groups of students huddled around several stations in the Northwestern Lehigh High School auditorium to learn about living better at the Wellness Fair.

"It's our third time doing it and there's always room to improve, but it went well," said Students Against Destructive Decisions Adviser Angela Traub.

Throughout the day, juniors and seniors and their teachers attended the fair sponsored by SADD, where they were able to speak freely with professionals about a wide range of issues related to health and safety.

"Yeah, it's not a normal day," junior Nate Buzinski said.

Megan MacMullen, of the Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley, also commented on the fair.

"The ones who wanted information got it and kids who were a little bit shy, we gave them a brochure with information and a hot line on it," she said.

Other agencies participating included Center for Humanistic Change, Valley Youth House, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Caron Foundation, Pyramid Healthcare and the North Central Highway Safety Network.

"This year we [also] chose to do an activity on stage that changed throughout the day," Traub said. "There was a set schedule by teacher and by period.

"Even if the students came down two or three times, each period there was different activity like country line dancing and face painting."

SADD member Alyssa Cinquemani discussed what the fair offered.

"It's a great event," said Cinquemani. "It teaches you good things you need to know like how drugs impair your thinking.

"I make sure everyone's having a good time and that it's worth their while."

Freshman Natalie Smith discussed the driving simulator.

"There are a lot of different and diverse stations," said Smith, pointing to the driving simulator, one of the most popular. "That one shows you can't do multiple things when you're driving. [The fair] gets the point across but not in a boring way."

Kelly Gerencher from Center for Humanistic Change monitored one of the stations where students could experience the adverse effects of using cell phones while driving through the use of a simulator.

"We're an agency that does preventive work," she said. "Our agency does everything from drug to alcohol prevention."

"Bill McQuilken, trauma prevention coordinator at Lehigh Valley Health Network lives in our district and he brought four machines," Traub said.

Jarrett Humes discussed the simulator.

"It simulates using your phone while you're driving," said Humes. "They exaggerate it obviously but they definitely get the message across. I did it twice today."

"Spring statistically has the largest number of car accidents with students enjoying their driver's licenses and activities like the prom," said Traub. "And our students do not have drivers ed.

"Distracted drivers are causing more accidents as is driving under the influence."

Local companies including Bear Rock Junction, Metro Beauty Academy, Shankweiler's Drive-In and IronPigs donated items for a student raffle.

"It's a good cause and it gets every one up and moving," said Randy Belnoski, adding the messages cannot end there.

"It's all about parenting, too," he said.