Trenton Middle School
Trenton, MO

Take 3 to Buckle Up!

Trenton Middle School has been actively combing the community to make sure we have covered the community with activities and information about rural traffic safety.
Since our last report we have had a float in the Homecoming parade. Our theme was to buckle up on your way to and from the football game. Approximately 35 kids dressed in Arrive Alive t-shirts participated in the float or walked and threw 40 pounds of candy to the on lookers. Each candy was wrapped with the FCCLA emblem and a slogan of “Be a smartie- Buckle Up or Don’t be a Dum Dum – Buckle Up” The  parade route was almost two miles and we saw a lot of people. Our new double sided banner was displayed with pride. When not in use it is located out in front of the school for all to see.

 
                        The third weekend of October we worked a safety booth at the Regional Missouri Days Festival which is attended by people from all over the Green hills area. When the visitors to the booth played the Dead or Alive game (like Deal or no Deal) they had the opportunity to win an air freshener or a key chain flashlight. All children received a color book on vehicle safety and “Hug Me, I buckle up” stickers. We handed out over 300 coloring books in the two days of the event. At this time we also handed out pamphlets and Missouri Drivers Manuals for soon to be drivers to use and study.  A business card was prepared with the levels of driving listed on it for the students to refer to and keep tucked in their billfolds.  We partnered with the Pamida Store to schedule the Eagle Life flight helicopter over the same weekend. Many people went from the Missouri Days Festival to see first hand what the inside of the Helicopter looks like.

            The radio station has become an active spot for the Trenton Middle School students. We have written and played five different ads on the radio promoting driver distractions and seat belt safety. We will be going back to the radio station next week to start on our Holiday Holla short clips to play over the Holiday season. They are ready to perform ads to Jingle Bell Rock, White Christmas, Jingle Bells and Silver Bells.

            This week the Middle School helped out with the High School FCCLA Halloween Carnival. As the parents entered they signed up for various activities promoted through the school district and each parent received a Drive Safe Drive Smart ink pen. They also were able to listen to our students talk about Driver Distractions and Seat Belt Safety and view the Driver distraction board. Participants were given candy, air fresheners and key chain flashlights for their Halloween buckets. We bundled our pamphlets with a note to parents of the importance of buckling up their children on Halloween and keeping their “special cargo” safe. Approximately two hundred and twenty five bundles of pamphlets were given to families.

            We would like to thank NOYS for the opportunity and the funding to carry out our projects promoting Rural Youth Traffic Safety. We still have a few projects left to do such as painting the Arrive Alive reminder on the sidewalk at school and at the hospital and radio ads each holiday reminding our families to be safe.  We feel that we have made a large impact on our community and our seat belt checks have improved over this two month period. The students want to be visible to other students and keep them reminded that seat belts do save lives.  One of their sayings to each other is “If you buckle eleven times in a row - you can make a habit of buckling up”

October 15 Update:

The last fifteen days have been very busy. We have spread the news about seat belt safety throughout down town Trenton and Across the Green Hills area through our activities.

The first week of October FCCLA students spent time making public service announcements and then recording them on the radio. By five o’clock the evening of recording students and families were hearing familiar voices on the radio informing them of distraction driving and seat belt safety. Both items have been a hit and the community is all a buzz about distraction driving and buckling up. On the tenth of October, the students entered a float into the Homecoming parade portraying a long car with many belted passengers. Many members walked behind the float carrying our new double sided banner and passing out candy bearing our slogan. We ordered t-shirts for all the students in the FCCLA in the colors lime green and fluorescent orange with the Buckle up – Arrive alive slogans on them.  We continue to take seat belt surveys each week and are slowly seeing our numbers go up.

The students had a discussion one day with one of the parents who refuse to wear their seatbelt on a regular basis. I was very proud of how they tried to convince the parent that they need to remember that their kids need them and if they are dead it will not help the family.
 Coming up the third weekend of October, FCCLA students will be hosting a Take 3 guessing game at the Missouri Days Festival. It is patterned after the Deal or No Deal game- and the contestants will find out if they are Dead or Alive at the end. This should be quite fun. We will keep you posted.

In November, we will be hosting a special day with the roll over simulator and a possible visit from the Life Flight Eagle Helicopter. The kids are looking forward to this with great anticipation.

Take 3 to Buckle Up! In the next couple weeks, Trenton Middle School FCCLA of Trenton, Missouri will be partnering with Wright Memorial Hospital, Grundy County Health Department and the Family Health Festival in late September.  At the Family Health Festival the FCCLA will be re-creating seat belt usage and informing youth, adults and children of the proper technique of buckling their seatbelt, proper child safety seat installation and informing them of how driving distractions can hurt their loved ones.

             In the mean time students are tallying the number of seat belt users each morning arriving at the Middle school. October promises many other activities to promote our Take 3 theme within our community.

Trenton Middle School has just been to a Health Fair for our community. We set up a display on Seat Belt safety and Driver Distractions. As the people passed our booth they filled out a survey and received a prize (air freshener for the car or a sunglasses clip).  Over 150 surveys were filled out and we are proud to say that 88% of the people attending the Health Fair buckled up for the morning. We realize that we did not get a lot of teens at the Health Fair but we did visit with many mothers and fathers that influence children to make a habit to buckle up.
 Our Theme of “Take 3” took on another aspect of safety when we talked to the people about driver distractions and encouraged them to “Take 3 - Be the director of your life!”
Our mission was for them to fix the radio or CD, make sure the makeup is on, and to not eat while driving.   If you are the director of their life –Let’s not have a Take 4 – you might be dead.