Students highlight roadway dangers
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
WAI'ANAE — Students by the dozens lined both sides of Farrington Highway yesterday in a boisterous, pre-Thanksgiving rally designed to highlight the perils of one of the state's most dangerous roadways.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The sign-holding rally — which elicited a virtual nonstop, two-hour blast of passing vehicle horns — was a community service project spearheaded by eighth-grade students from Luane Higuchi's social studies class at Wai'anae Intermediate School. The rally was augmented by police, firefighters, teachers, parents and students from nearby Wai'anae High School.
Eighth-grade students at Wai'anae Intermediate School urged motorists to slow down and watch their driving habits as they waved signs by the roadside on Farrington Highway yesterday. The awareness rally was part of a national project.
The effort was part of the California-based national Center for Civic Education's Project Citizen Program, which Higuchi and her students decided to participate in this year.
The idea is to get the students involved in civics, said project coordinator Litia Ho. "This is the first time we've been involved in the program. And this rally is our first program event."
"The yearlong project is mandatory — it's part of the curriculum," Higuchi said. "But the rally is voluntary because it's after school."
Nevertheless, all 32 students volunteered to hold signs by the roadside in front of the school yesterday.
Higuchi said the project began in September with her students considering numerous area problems on which to focus. Ultimately they settled on Wai'anae's major thoroughfare, where traffic accidents have killed at least 80 people between Honokai Hale and Ka'ena Point since 1990.
"There are a lot of problems on Farrington Highway and they need to be fixed," said Malie Pine, 13, who helped coordinate publicity for the rally.
"We chose the date because it was before the Thanksgiving holiday, which is when people need to be thinking about things such as driving safely," said Ashley Pittman, who, like other students involved, was on several of the six project committees, including the Date Selection Committee.
Justin Lozano, 13, was on the Problem Statement Committee.
"We separated into groups and brainstormed about what the problems on the highway are," Lozano said. "Then we put all the problems into one statement."
The eight-point statement includes such factors as motorists who drink and speed to careless pedestrians to officials who don't seem able to find solutions.
"We're trying to accomplish something and get our voices heard," said Jesslyn Bogard, who headed the Community Support Committee. Bogard said she has learned that being heard can be difficult. It took a dozen phone calls to police before she was able to get the right information.
"And we just found out on Monday that we were getting the electronic speed sign," she said.
And it wasn't until yesterday that Bogard found out that the Leo Club from Wai'anae High would be joining the rally — which meant some last-minute sign-making by Leroy Garcia and the other members of the Posters and Art Committee.
"We made at least 20 posters just today," said Garcia, 14. "Altogether, I'd say we made about 100 posters."
From here the students will narrow the focus of what can be done to make Farrington safer. Higuchi promises more awareness rallies.
"We're going to plan at least one more before Christmas," she said.
Added Ho, "If they can make a difference, then we will demonstrate that young people can be good role models."
