Valrico resident Danielle Waymire wants Hillsborough County students to have fun while promoting safety this summer. Waymire has teamed up with Safe Bus for Us, a local advocacy group, to offer a Crosswalk Safety Video Contest with prizes and the chance for the students’ work to be seen at schools throughout the district.
“Our goal is to get the students to have fun while helping others understand the importance of crosswalk safety,” said Waymire, who was instrumental in bringing crossing guards to Rodgers, Randall and Mulrennan Middle Schools and brought the issue of crosswalk safety to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, who recently voted to start funding crossing guards at all county middle schools.
“We now, thankfully, have all of this new infrastructure and a lot of the kids don’t know how to use it, so we are hoping these videos will help spread the word.”
The videos, which should show the proper way to cross a crosswalk, should be two minutes or less and must adhere to the School District of Hillsborough County’s policies including dress code. Suggestions for video content include not looking at cell phones, wearing a helmet, walking a bike, looking both ways before crossing, pushing the crosswalk buttons and listening to crossing guards.
“We are looking for the most fun, creative, out of the box video,” said Waymire. “We want the students to enjoy making them and show their sense of humors so that the other students will enjoy watching and learning from them.”
Videos can be emailed to crosswalksafetyvideo@gmail.com and need to be submitted by Monday, July 8. The email should include contact information, the name of the school the students attend and a signed parental consent letter. Without the consent letter, the video will be ineligible.
“Safety is very important,” said Waymire. “Do not create your video in an unsafe environment.”
Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place and videos will be judged by Osprey Observer representatives. The contest is sponsored by Cardinal Roofing, Osprey Observer and Safe Bus for Us.
To learn more about crosswalk safety, visit www.fdot.gov/safety/6-resources/crosswalk-safety/crosswalksafety.shtm.
