On Wednesday, March 22, Roncalli welcomed The National Save A Life Tour. The Save A Life Tour is a comprehensive high-impact safe driving awareness program that informs, educates and demonstrates the potentially deadly consequences resulting from poor choices and decisions made by the operator of a motor vehicle. The program specifically places emphasis on the following driving situations: impaired driving, distracted driving, driver experience, improper driver behavior and seat belt usage. The Save A Life Tour utilized several educational methods including, both video and speaking presentations, an interactive demonstration with simulators, pre- and post-surveys and takeaways, including a pledge card and wristband.
The entire student body viewed a video at the beginning of the school day. Juniors and seniors used the driving simulators, and freshmen explored an interactive semi-truck.
“The video had some very good real-life stories in it,” junior Madelyn Endris said. “I never thought about how the crashes and fatalities caused by a distraction of your phone could affect so many people until I watched the video. Doing the simulators was a lot of fun to watch and participate in. I did the texting and driving simulator, and I lasted about one second before I crashed. I thought it was crazy how fast I ran into a pole, and it was harder than I thought. When people came out of the drunk driving simulator, all they could talk about was how difficult it was. Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience about how something I think is just a quick text could turn into a much bigger problem, hurting not only the people in the other car, but hurting their friends and family as well.”
Assistant Principal for Student Life Michael Wantz shared, “We were very excited to have the Save A Life Tour at Roncalli High School. The driving simulators where the students were impaired or distracted were valuable tools to help them learn to stay focused on the road while driving. I am sure it reached many students, but if it only reached one, it was well worth it! We look forward to working with the Save A Life Tour again in the near future!”
