By Lian Bunny
News Editor
St. Bonaventure’s Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) found another way to promote safety in the local community: the SafeTeen Coalition.
Alex Gu, a senior biology major, invented the idea of SafeTeen and applied for a State Farm grant to create the program. As the chief of MERT and an emergency medical technician (EMT) for Allegany EMS, he worked with Allegany Rescue and EMS Inc. to apply and receive the $66,028 grant.
According to Tim Parks, a senior psychology major, the grant will mainly provide materials and resources for high school students to successfully engage with elementary students when talking about safety rules.
The Allegany Rescue and EMS Inc., a non-profit organization, will sponsor the SafeTeen Coalition.
The purpose of the program is to give youth the opportunity to learn safety skills to apply to their communities. Bonaventure students will mentor local high school students, so the high school students can teach elementary students about safety.
Those interested can contact Alex Gu at gua11@bonaventure.edu for more information. Applications to join the coalition can be found at safeteencoalition.com.
“[College students] would be serving as mentors to the high school students,” Parks said. “They will be teaching them public speaking techniques, safety rules and an effective way to teach elementary school students.”
The SafeTeen Coalition core team members will organize the programs. They are: Ryan Lim, a senior chemistry major; Aayushi Sardana, senior biology major; Anna Martin, junior biology major; Indulaxmi Seeni, sophomore psychology major; Carli Johnston, senior biology major; Stephanie Foster, sophomore finance major and Parks.
The inaugural seminar will take place at Allegany Elementary School today. The seminar will use “Safety Town,” a life-sized cardboard community, to help students learn basic safety rules, including seatbelt usage, proper crosswalk techniques, obeying traffic signs and respecting the rules of the road.
This spring, the coalition has three seminars scheduled at Allegany Elementary School. These lessons will focus on topics such as Internet safety and bullying.
The SafeTeen Coalition is also organizing a drunk driving simulator and safety fair at Allegany-Limestone High School. According to Parks, it will take place in late April or early May; the exact date is yet to be determined.
The group’s goal for next year is to expand the program to Portville, Hinsdale, Olean and Archbishop Walsh elementary schools.
Parks said he hopes the program can successfully teach children about safety and possibly save someone’s life.
“This will hopefully lead to less deaths on behalf of careless or reckless behavior,” Parks, Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board Secretary, said. “It also offers high school students the chance to develop their leadership skills. Unintentional accidents are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents up to age 18.”
