Student leaders learn about driving safety
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer
English students and football players from Waipahu and Pearl City high schools will become the messengers of change today.
They are armed with facts and figures that the No. 1 killer of teenagers is car crashes, something they learned this morning at a workshop at the Ala Moana Hotel as part of the Keep The Drive program.
The two schools participated today in the first-ever Keep The Drive program in Honolulu, sponsored by the Allstate Foundation, which holds 14 such workshops around the country every year. The goal is to encourage students to take the lead in educating others that they need to drive smart.
Today, 34 junior varsity football players made posters, wrote lyrics for rap songs and planned a rally to educate others in their community about the need to wear seatbelts, drive without distractions, don't drink and drive and don't speed, said Meaghan Hagensick, Allstate Foundation teen leadership trainer.
"We want to start a spark," Hagensick said. "We want them to go back to school and educate each other about safe driving."
The program is in it's third year. The statistics speak for themselves, Hagensick said:
"It's important that they understand that when they start driving they know safety," said Bryson Carvalho, Waipahu High school football coach. "They're responsible for themselves and others on the road."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.
