On Friday, February 28th there was a joint effort between members of Chestermere RCMP, Peace Officers, Fire Fighters and AMA to teach the approximately 450 Rainbow Creek Elementary (RCE) Students the importance of crosswalk safety during a kick-off assembly at the school to launch their Safety Campaign which will be running throughout the week of March 3-7.
In a letter that went home with students on Friday, it explains that as the population of Rainbow Creek continues to grow, so does both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. “This congestion has brought with it many safety concerns”, it states in the letter from the school Administration Team.
The Rainbow Creek Patrol Team Safety Committee, which is made up of grade five students has been working together with AMA and Chestermere Peace Officers on a number of initiatives to address some of the concerns so that students can arrive and leave the school safely each and every day.
With the help of the local RCMP and Peace Officers, the Rainbow Creek Patrol Team will be out all week during their Safety Campaign on the lookout for pedestrians and drivers who exhibit good safety habits around the school and will even be giving out prizes to students caught crossing the street in a safe manner. Those who might not display the best safety practices will be getting reminders about the lessons taught during the assembly by Protective Services.
The message of the day was delivered in a fun way by remembering the three P’s, made especially cool by a catchy rap song performed by some of the students. The Point, Pause and Proceed method of crossing the street at cross walks is encouraged and parents are asked to set a good example for your children by always crossing at a crosswalk.
Lisa Nowlin-Clayton from AMA School Safety Patrol explained to the children that it is only safe to cross the street in a crosswalk, where there are lights or at the end of a street, but never in the middle of a street, “What if an adult is there and they tell you that it is okay and tell you to just cross in the middle of the street where there is no crosswalk, is that okay?” she asks the students to which they answer with a resounding, “NOOOOO”.
“It is surprising but we see it all the time where parents tell their children to go ahead and jaywalk putting them in real danger,” Nowlin-Clayton says in an interview after the assembly. “We are trying to get the message out to parents to choose safety over convenience.”
“We want students to know that it is important to be an alert pedestrian, and if they don’t feel safe they should be communicating that with their parents.”
During a time for questions, one student raised his hand and explained that sometimes when he crosses the crosswalk at the school, he has to walk around cars that have parked in the crosswalk. This serves as a good reminder to parents that not only is it putting our children at risk of injury, but is also a violation subject to fines. According to the letter set home, the penalty for parking in a crosswalk is $45-$75 however failing to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk is a whopping $575.00.
“We see unsafe practices everyday out in front of the school while doing patrols, so we really felt there was a need to bring awareness to parents and students,” says Trish Bissett-Kress, a teacher at RCE. “The safety of our school community is always our main concern and we are asking for parents help and cooperation to ensure that our students arrive and leave school safely.”
