Community Collab: Waitaki
Do you want to be inspired to work together to make our roads a safer place? Check out this blog and hear about how schools in Oamaru banded together to make a positive impact in a creative way!
During Road Safety Week in November the 3 schools in Oamaru gathered together with local Police and the Waitaki Road Safety Coordinator to celebrate the unveiling of three student-designed billboards/signs to go up on the side of the Police Station. Each sign is designed by students, challenges people to drive distraction free, and they will be on a rotation over the next months.
SADD groups from Waitaki Girls, St Kevins, and Waitaki Boys have been working towards this project for a while and it is a really great example of community collaboration and working together for a great cause. Big shout out to Jenny Corlet the SADD teacher from Waitaki Girls for coordinating the three schools, and getting the project over the line.
Collaboration is something that we always encourage SADD groups and students to do, it is a really effective way of making a difference. We asked some of those involved to answer some questions about this project, hopefully you can hear a bit of their passion and also be inspired to collaborate with your community.
What inspired your community and SADD students to do this project?
Jenny Corlet - SADD Teacher at Waitaki Girls:
“The sign idea came from a meeting we had with the three local high schools last year. There had been a car accident where the youth of this community lost a friend who was special to many people. So the topic of driving and youth driving was being talked about in the community. So the students of SADD wanted to plan an event or do an activity that showed that young people do make a stand and educate each other about safe driving. After brainstorming, the group last year decided that creating a sign to display in the community would be a good way of reminding everyone about safe driving behaviour. No distractions was the theme voted for. So the challenge was put out to design signs and we were going to only pick one, however this year we changed that to a sign from each school. Last year's SADD students combined and had a fundraising sausage sizzle. We were hoping to have the sign designs sorted and launched however then Covid 19 hit which caused a hold up as the focus shifted to taking pressure off students to focus on online learning etc. It was awesome to have the sign launch come together and we are grateful to the group that were the main idea creators last year for the collaboration.”
How did this come about, tell me a bit about how you designed the signs, and fundraised etc?
Elizabeth Fountaine - SADD student at Waitaki Girls
“Regarding the theme ‘no distractions’, as a Waitaki Girls’ High school club filled with sympathetic students determined to make positive change, we wanted to make an alarming impact on drivers. A kind but serious warning to remind that good habits save lives. This project started last year, and arose after a devastating accident occurred in our community, which heavily impacted our people and will continue to. 2019’s SADD Leaders decided to respond by raising awareness and funding through a sausage sizzle.”
What did you learn or get out of contributing to this project?
Georgina Houston - SADD student at St Kevins
“How important it is to communicate with the group within our school and being reliant on one other for ideas to form the best possible outcome, e.g our billboard design and how amazing it feels to be part of a team to create something together to help/influence the community. It has also been very amazing how each of the individual schools have very unique designs, each having the same intention but were all completely different which I think was very cool.”
Why do you think it is important to work together with other schools, and also why is it important for young people to have a say like this, and make a positive impact?
Lochlan Cowles - SADD student at Waitaki Boys
“Working together with other schools is a great way to increase the number of people working on a project especially if you're at a smaller school. It improves connections between local schools and the students within them. Young people are the future of this country and the world so it's very important for us to be involved in what's happening in our communities. All over the world we see more and more young people standing up for all types of issues and it is making long term change.”
Do you want to work with some other schools in your area or community? Here are some tips from the students in Oamaru with experience:
One of the best ways to initiate the conversation is by finding people that you may know or be friends with, that are also in SADD. This way there's already a great link there to get started with. If you don't know anyone involved then reach out to the school or your local SADD regional manager to get a contact - Lochlan
Go for it! Don’t be afraid to work as a team because the outcome is always better with more voices within a group. So the more people the better and it also encourages meeting new people and brings people together for the betterment of the community. It is great fun as well. - Georgina
Have the leaders from each club/group meet in person and then report back to their own clubs/groups. Try and find something that everyone can contribute to. - Elizabeth Fountaine
If you want to read a bit more about this amazing event then check out this article that the Oamaru Mail wrote about the event! https://www.oamarumail.co.nz/community/pupils-push-no-distractions-message/
Collaborating and working together has always been a big part of SADD’s kaupapa, if we are going to make a difference in the road safety space we need to work together. Perhaps next year your SADD group could take up the challenge of figuring out how to collaborate with other schools or community partners to support young people to make good decisions on our roads.