Cross walk safety(Stayin Alive)
How many students heard the message of your project?
1200
Estimated percentage of your student body?
91-100%
Who has your project aimed to reach?
Freshman class,Sophomore class, Junior class, Senior class, School professionals
Objective:
Our objective for our Safe Drivers Club was to work on a pedestrian safety campaign to educate our student body about the importance of the pedestrian push button while crossing a street safely. One must push the button to activate the pedestrian phase and receive the Walk indication (and lead) to cross a street safely. We also aim to educate students about how to drive safety while driving especially in school zones where pedestrians may be crossing.
Target Audience:
The Target audiences included: Bergenfield High School Students in 9th to 12th Grades, the Bergenfield High School staff, the Bergenfield community and any other driver/pedestrian that may be passing by Bergenfield.
Execution:
Our plan was to get the signal changed in front of our school to a lead pedestrian interval phase so that pedestrians get a head start on crossing and are visible to cars before they start turning. This was our primary concern due to the fact that five student got into crashes at the intersection since 2017. All five have been because the lead car wanted to make a left onto S. Prospect and attempted to beat both pedestrians crossing legally in the crosswalk and the rest of the cars
traveling in the opposite direction as soon as the light turned green.
Teamwork:
Our campaign was implemented by holding a assembly on pedestrian safety held on April 12,2023 in our gymnasium by EZride.org. We made posters with statements like press the button, save lives, so students could get daily visual reminders about keeping our student body safe while crossing a street. We got the Department of DPW to join our campaign where they made Aluminum Signs (Drive Smart We Stop for People It’s the Law). The DPW will be putting them all around town especially around our five Elementary Schools, Middle and High School to promote driving smart and watching out for pedestrians at all cross walks.`
Use of resources:
We had much help throughout this process. We enjoyed working with guest speaker Mrs. Lisa Lee, the deputy director of the Bike and Pedestrian safety program, who then held an assembly on April 12th 2023 to educate students on how to be safe when crossing the road, riding on bikes, driving safely, looking out for pedestrians, and also reminding drivers that pedestrians have the right of way. Another huge help was contacting the Bergenfield Police, Mayor, and Borough officials through emails to approve of the signs we wanted to put up and to get the signal changed at the intersection.
Use of media:
We created a music video on how to cross the street safely with the music from Bee Gees Stayin’Alive using our made up lyrics to the song. We had help from the school chorus class who prerecorded the song for us and our schools dance team who recorded the music video for our song. We also created signs that were put on the streets as a reminder Our schools principle also held morning announcements to remind people of a few tips on road safety.
Thoroughness:
Through our many successes in this program we were able to remind student drivers that pedestrians always have the right of way especially at a crosswalk. We also reminded students of the process they should go through before turning at an intersection and driving through a crosswalk. An example of our efforts and understanding could be the signs that were put up on the Bergenfield roads to remind drivers on how to be safe and protect the lives of many on the road.
Impact:
For our first year participating in the Champion Schools Program, we believe we have made a major impact on the safety of our community. We successfully made a change in a troublesome intersection where unfortunately multiple crashes involving students were made. The signs DPW put up in our neighborhood will serve as a reminder to all drivers and pedestrians on how they can travel safely and keep many other people safe. Through our efforts we hope to save many pedestrian lives and drivers from have a terrible ordeal.
Sustainability:
We believe that changing the length of our pedestrian signals as well as our street lights by our high school will have the most long lasting effect on our community. Our signs that were put up around our town will also prove to be very influential in the safety of pedestrians and drivers. These signs are made of metal so they will be durable enough to last without replacement for many years.
Unexpected Lessons Learned:
Many of our club members admit to being one of the kids who cross the road at a red light. They believe through this program they have gained a new found perspective on the importance of crossing the road safely.
Stipend Reporting:
our school received a stipend to support your Champion School Teen Driving Safety Project. Additionally, any funds that you raised as a result of your project must be reinvested into transportation safety. The purpose of this report is to itemize expenditures for your project that were paid from the stipend
Tee Shirts
Amount $504.00
Total $504.00
PROJECT MEDIA
