MCDOT held the Vision Zero Youth Ambassadors Graduation Ceremony on Saturday, June 11. Speakers included MCDOT Director Chris Conklin, Montgomery County Police Department Sargent Jeremy Smalley, Montgomery County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Avan Browning, and Vision Zero Coordinator Wade Holland.
Ambassadors served as youth keynote speakers and presented to parents and community leaders their plans, outcomes and best practices at an in-person graduation ceremony at the Public Safety Headquarters. Ambassadors received certificates and earned up to 20 SSL hours.
Youth Ambassadors were tasked to complete group projects that encompass engineering, education or enforcement topics. Resources and project guidance were provided by MCDOT to execute projects that will ultimately improve the safety of County residents. Students joined one of five project teams:
- Students created a framework for conducting a safety walk to educate the public about pedestrian safety and explain the significance of learning more about safety while walking.
- Students created a plan for a virtual middle and high school Art/Writing contest promoting safe driving.
- Students created a plan for a walking audit to observe the safety behaviors of students around their four schools for recommendations for pedestrian improvements.
- Students created a youth-centered road safety week educational toolkit to be distributed throughout the county to middle and high schools. Schools will be equipped next school year to mobilize students to make safe decisions as youth road users.
- Students created a survey to gather student feedback on how safe students feel at school, in terms of road safety.
The next opportunity for high school students to apply to the program will be in Spring 2023.
Learn more about Vision Zero here and follow @VisionZeroMC on Twitter for ongoing updates on the Vision Zero effort in Montgomery County.
