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“Raiders don’t drive faster than their guardian angels can fly.”
That’s the slogan attached to the message that a group of East Peoria Community High School students delivered to members of the community before Friday night’s varsity boys basketball game.
Students stood alongside high school staff and administrators as well as East Peoria Police and Tazewell County Sheriff officers in Allison Gymnasium to deliver the powerful message aimed at promoting safe driving.
“We want to let the community know that we stand united in keeping our teens safe and eliminating distracted driving,” said EPCHS driver education teacher Doreen Propst.
Their presence at Friday’s basketball game is part of a promotion for IDOT’s Operation Teen Safe Driving contest, a state-wide program that was originally launched in Tazewell County in 2007, after 15 teens — one, an EPCHS student — lost their lives in automobile collisions in 15 consecutive months. A moment of silence was observed prior to the start of the basketball game in remembrance of these teens.
The program focuses on awareness as a tool to save lives. At EPCHS, a group of nearly 20 students work together to think of and enact creative ways to promote the importance of wearing safety belts, the dangers of distracted and impaired driving, speeding, fatigue and lack of driving experience.
EPCHS was chosen this year as one of 105 Illinois high schools to participate in the state-wide contest. Selected schools compete against each other, developing unique ways to deliver safe driving messages to their fellow students and community members.
“The idea is for them to get as much information out to the students and the community as possible,” Propst said.
While the high school has not been selected to compete each year, safe driving has become an ever-present part of life at EPCHS.
“I just felt it was an important enough issue to keep it going in our school regardless of whether or not we were competing,” Propst said of the school’s driving skills for life program.
Shelby Miller, 18, said she first became involved with driving skills for life when she was a freshman at EPCHS.
“Students don’t always understand that doing really simple things, like even messing with a radio button can cause an accident,” Miller said. “They need to take certain precautions to keep themselves and others safe.”
Currently a senior, Miller added that she thinks the fact that teens are involved in spreading safe-driving tips at the high school is very effective.
“Raiders don’t drive faster than their guardian angels can fly.”
That’s the slogan attached to the message that a group of East Peoria Community High School students delivered to members of the community before Friday night’s varsity boys basketball game.
Students stood alongside high school staff and administrators as well as East Peoria Police and Tazewell County Sheriff officers in Allison Gymnasium to deliver the powerful message aimed at promoting safe driving.
“We want to let the community know that we stand united in keeping our teens safe and eliminating distracted driving,” said EPCHS driver education teacher Doreen Propst.
Their presence at Friday’s basketball game is part of a promotion for IDOT’s Operation Teen Safe Driving contest, a state-wide program that was originally launched in Tazewell County in 2007, after 15 teens — one, an EPCHS student — lost their lives in automobile collisions in 15 consecutive months. A moment of silence was observed prior to the start of the basketball game in remembrance of these teens.
The program focuses on awareness as a tool to save lives. At EPCHS, a group of nearly 20 students work together to think of and enact creative ways to promote the importance of wearing safety belts, the dangers of distracted and impaired driving, speeding, fatigue and lack of driving experience.
EPCHS was chosen this year as one of 105 Illinois high schools to participate in the state-wide contest. Selected schools compete against each other, developing unique ways to deliver safe driving messages to their fellow students and community members.
“The idea is for them to get as much information out to the students and the community as possible,” Propst said.
While the high school has not been selected to compete each year, safe driving has become an ever-present part of life at EPCHS.
“I just felt it was an important enough issue to keep it going in our school regardless of whether or not we were competing,” Propst said of the school’s driving skills for life program.
Shelby Miller, 18, said she first became involved with driving skills for life when she was a freshman at EPCHS.
“Students don’t always understand that doing really simple things, like even messing with a radio button can cause an accident,” Miller said. “They need to take certain precautions to keep themselves and others safe.”
Currently a senior, Miller added that she thinks the fact that teens are involved in spreading safe-driving tips at the high school is very effective.
“I think teens listen to other teens,” she said. “It seems to make it more real to other students when the message is coming from people their own age.”
Senior Emily Dwyer, 17, said that while promoting safe driving to others, she has learned skills that have helped to improve her own driving.
“There’s so much more to this than just sitting in the classroom and learning about driving,” Dwyer said. “It’s become a real-life learning experience.”
Recently, students handed out safe driving flyers while working FOLEPI’s Winter Wonderland. The students also conducted a seat belt survey in December, by patrolling the school’s parking lots and recording the number of people wearing seat belts. They found that about 88 percent of students in the vehicles wore their seat belts. A second survey will take place in February. Propst said the hope is that the promotion of safe driving will encourage more students to buckle up.
“Of course we’d love to see 100 percent, but I think any improvement is positive,” Propst said. “It lets us know we’re making a difference.”
As a participating school, EPCHS received a $2,000 grant from IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety, the Allstate Foundation and the Ford Motor Company Fund. Propst said the money is used for materials, incentives, prizes, T-shirts and anything else necessary to promote awareness.
The initiative partners with Ford Motor Company Fund’s nationally recognized Ford Driving Skills for Life program and the Allstate Foundation’s Keep the Drive.
“We’re just trying to get more of the community involved,” Miller said. “We already reach out to the students here just by being in the club and just promoting it. We’re trying to get it out to the older folks and the younger kids too. We’re just trying to let them know that their lives depend on how they drive.”
