Stafford Students Are Encouraged to Become Safer Highway Users
The Vermont Teen Leadership Safety Program Chapter at Stafford Technical Center just completed a program designed to help other students in that school to become safer drivers and passengers. The program, Save Our Students (SOS), is designed to reinforce being a responsible driver or vehicle passenger. Using a mini-grant from the state’s VTLSP organization (which is funded by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program), the local chapter entered into a strategic partnership with a local business, Joe Jones- The Great Outdoors. The company’s manager, Ron Fox, agreed to provide a prize for the project at a significant discount, and suggested that camping items would be an excellent prize.
Students at Stafford were offered the opportunity to sign a pledge to be a responsible highway user for the duration of the project. The pledge for drivers included their agreement to follow traffic and speed laws, to always wear their safety belts, and to not use a cell phone or text while driving. Passengers pledged to also wear their safety belts and to not distract the driver while he or she is driving. Those pledging also consented to a check of their motor vehicle records to verify their eligibility should they become the winner. If the student was under 18, his or her parent had to agree to the terms.
The VTLSP members designed flyers which were placed around the school, and handed out in classrooms. A significant number of students returned signed pledge forms. The prize was a complete camping outfit a backpack with hydration system, a dual fuel cook stove, a water filtration system, an Eureka Tetragon 5 tent, and a sleeping bag – the proximity of the store, but mostly because kayaking is a healthy lifelong outdoor activity that promotes a positive lifestyle. The winner of the promotion was Brittany Hance, an Otter Valley student in the Human Services Program. Brittany received her camping outfit, which was valued at over $500, at the Stafford Technical Center Student of the Fourth Marking Period Assembly, where the presentation was made by VTSLP members Geoffry McDonald of Brandon and Kyle Lenher of Proctor.
