Project Ignition Story of the Week: Rural Arizona Road Tragedies Mobilize High School

As National Teen Driver Safety Week kicks off, the central Arizona community of Payson is recommitting to safe driving — both on and off-road — having lost a student and teacher to driving tragedies last year.Apply for funding to support student-led teen driver safety promotion projects through Project Ignition. Applications are due Nov. 15, 2010. Visit www.sfprojectignition.com for more information.

As National Teen Driver Safety Week kicks off, the central Arizona community of Payson is recommitting to safe driving — both on and off-road — having lost a student and teacher to driving tragedies last year. This is the second year of Payson High School’s involvement in the teen driver safety program Project Ignition, funded by State Farm® and coordinated by NYLC.

Having influenced the state’s new graduated license law, the students have launched their second year with the slogan: “One Choice, One Life: Think Before You Drive.” They are celebrating this year’s National Teen Driver Safety Week by leading discussions, hosting a vigil with the drama department, and staffing a booth at a football game providing information on how parents can impact teen driver safety.

Meanwhile, English classes have been conducting related research, math students have been compiling and analyzing related statistics, and government classes have been studying state legislation. "We have the support of every department on campus and definitely of our administration," says Caleb Harrison, student body vice president and service-learning chairman.

They are also helping other schools in their county start similar initiatives by offering a Project Ignition application writing workshop.

And the mayor also has gotten involved, declaring the third Wednesday of each November Project Ignition Day. What once was a half-day is now an entire school day dedicated to student- and teacher-led workshops emphasizing safe driving. Every discipline is involved, from the physics teacher exploring Newton's Law as it relates to safe driving, to the Life Connections classes looking at how eating in the car impacts safe driving. For the second year, drama students will perform a mock accident and funeral.

As an outgrowth of their work, Payson students and advisor/teacher Shelly Camp have been asked to sit on their county’s Driver's Education Coalition. Through this involvement, they are helping create sustainable solutions to drivers training, since the school budget can no longer support it.

A mock crash and emergency response held at Payson High School.