Pedestrians in Power
How many students heard the message of your project?
980
Estimated percentage of your student body?
71-80%
Who has your project aimed to reach?
Freshman class, Sophomore class, Junior class, Senior class, Community at large, Other (younger generations)
Objective:
The objective of our project was to educate student and staff drivers and pedestrians about how dangerous it can be to be a pedestrian and teach them how to protect each other. Being a safe pedestrian entails being vigilant of one’s surroundings when going out, as in doing so it promotes the safety of both drivers and pedestrians.
Target Audience:
This year our target audience focused on current drivers, soon-to-be drivers, and pedestrians in both our school and overall community! Our outreach has been largely those in our high school and community. Within the high school we made sure to focus on all students, especially those that are just learning how to drive or those that will be driving soon. We also worked with the high school’s preschool program to teach a lesson to the children about pedestrian safety with crosswalks.
Execution:
We decided to focus our project on how pedestrians impact and can be impacted by the drivers on the road. To spread this information, we used informational quizzes, a PSA about being a good pedestrian to be viewed on our school’s daily news program, Instagram contests, sharing the New Jersey Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Coalition daily messages, encouraging community members to take the Safe Driver Pledge, running an interactive table to spread pedestrian and driver safety information, teaching our school’s preschoolers about pedestrian safety, and so much more. The goal of everything we are doing is to get the word out and inform those in our community, especially all our students and student drivers, about being vigilant while driving, as well as walking. Through our platforms, predominantly Google Classroom and Instagram, we were able to post information, links to our quizzes and contests, the New Jersey Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Coalition daily messages, and inform those on general statistics and safety tips!
Teamwork:
At the meetings, we delegated tasks to ensure everything was done successfully and in an environment where everyone could contribute. Members were able to choose if they wanted to create the pedestrian safety quiz, post information and contests on our Instagram page, work at our Pedestrians in Power table, and/or be a part of our PSA either by helping us film or be in it. To keep track of these projects we created a collaborative Google Doc so everyone could stay up-to-date at all times! Before ending some of our meetings, we made sure to take pictures of our club members there along with having an attendance sheet to verify what members attended.
Use of resources:
We utilized our local resources in this project by having people spread the information through social media and people they know such as their families. On part of the social side we also posted messages on our club Google Classroom page so other students would be able to join! We administered a quiz that students took where they responded with the correct pedestrian safety answers. During lunch periods, we worked an interactive table to spread information to all available students. We also reached out to the school’s preschool program to teach the students about being a safe pedestrian.
Use of media:
We made use of social media in our project by sharing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Coalition messages and all project updates on Instagram as well as sending out messages about our overall project to reach the classes of ‘23, ‘24, ‘25, and ‘26 through our school news channel. We were also able to spread the word through school social communities such as the club Google Classroom page and school loudspeaker. Finally, we made a PSA about pedestrian safety to be shared with the entire school through our school news channel.
Thoroughness:
Our project effectively communicated teen driving safety, shown through teenagers’ responses when asked what they learned through the campaign and their quiz scores when asked about pedestrian safety. Their high scores on the multiple choice questions made it clear they became very aware of the important do’s and don’ts of safe driving and being a model pedestrian. Furthermore, we ran a contest in which applicants were able to visually represent their understanding of being a safe pedestrian, and the response revealed understanding of our campaign’s messages.
Impact:
We measured the impact of our project with the feedback and positive interest we received after conducting multiple school-wide and community projects throughout the year. For our school, we kept track of how many students participated in the Pedestrians in Power quiz by recording the names of students who participated. Around 100 students participated in our Pedestrians in Power quiz, and 80% of students did exceptionally well, scoring above an 80%. Those who took the quiz were awarded with a sweet treat, a magnet with our logo, or a mint! We also conducted an Instagram art contest to display pedestrian safety, in which students submitted pieces of art for a prize. One student was selected and celebrated on our Instagram page. The winner of the Instagram contest created a digital media piece with the Philadelphia sports mascots using a crosswalk to cross the street. We measured the impact of our project within the community by continuously sharing information on pedestrian safety to raise awareness of its importance.
Sustainability:
Our project will have a lasting effect on our community by educating them on how to be safe pedestrians and to be careful and alert when driving. Our project mainly focuses on high school students, and with students becoming new drivers, they need to know to be careful and pay attention when they’re behind the wheel of a car.
Unexpected Lessons Learned:
“I learned that pedestrian safety education begins at a very young age and how important it is for even a young child to know how to stay safe as a pedestrian.”
“I learned how high the fatality rate is for teen drivers with other teens in the car.”
“I learned how little people actually know about being a safe pedestrian.”
“I learned how around 3,000 people die from distracted driving each year.”
“I’ve learned to be very cautious of pedestrians in the road when I am out driving on the road ways.”
Stipend Reporting: Your 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
Promotional buttons and magnets; project t-shirts – $424.09
Giveaways for activities (candy, mints, fortune cookies, etc.) – $273.54
Promotional advertisements with Robotics Club, the school musical, etc. – $120.00
Description contest winner gifts – $100.00
Total: – $917.63
PROJECT MEDIA
