Mark Mallaney’s Sophomore AVID Class strives to enlighten TJ on the importance of seatbelt usage and driving safely.
Artwork by Mia Nogueira
The 33 students in TJ’s Sophomore AVID class are competing against several other schools in DPS over the course of the next two weeks in The Mile High Seat Belt Challenge put on by Mile High RETAC with the goal of educating TJ in drivers’ safety.
Mark Mallaney’s sophomore AVID class is part of a community outreach program that is geared towards educating students on the significance of wearing a seat belt every time they step into a car, and also about the dangers of driving distracted. “We have a lot planned that we hope will help to educate TJ about drivers’ safety,” said Mallaney.
AVID is an acronym meaning Advancement Via Individual Determination. “The AVID classes aspire to support college bound students to graduate with the academic standing to go to the school of their choice. I want to create a sense of community in my classroom. To be successful as an AVID student, the students work together,” said Sophomore AVID Class Teacher Mark Mallaney.
The AVID class has already done some studies on its own here at TJ. They found in their study that 72% of student drivers here at TJ wear their seatbelt and that 51% of their passengers do. “Safe driving is a relevant issue here at TJ because we found in our study that on average only 57% of all TJ students wear their seatbelts. We hope our project improves that,” said Sophomore AVID Student Rachel Uyemura.
For the project, TJ is also competing against East, Lincoln, and South High Schools. The winning school will get a cupcake party put on by Mile High RETAC as well as knowing the project made an impact on the school and students.
To make their impact, the AVID class divided up into three student-operated groups: education, encouragement, and enforcement. Each group has its own set of tasks and responsibilities in the competition.
The education group is responsible for giving each TJ student knowledge on driving safely and wearing a seatbelt. “Not a lot of people wear their seat belts every time they are in a car. Its important for people to see what could happen if they don’t. That’s our job,” said Sophomore AVID Student Ian Ahern.
The encouragement group is in charge of the seat belt pledge. “The seat belt pledge is an agreement each student is asked to make to always wear a seat belt and keep true to your word,” Explains Uyemura. “Our role is to encourage students to sign the pledge and to drive safely.”
The enforcement group has come up with some clever ways to promote its message of “driving distracted gets you subtracted” and see that the pledge and knowledge carry over with the students into the car. They have all made T-shirts to sport on the same day to advertise their message and have organized many informational activities. “We have made shirts with our slogan displayed and plan to all wear them on the same day. We also wrote facts about what could happen when driving distracted,” said Sophomore AVID Student Perla Ortega. “We hope they see how important it is to drive safely. Especially with the example of the car, we hope they make the right choice and buckle up.”
