When Claire Weaver, a 15-year-old student at Granville High School, was struck by a school transportation van while walking around town last summer, she knew something needed to change.
She decided to use her experience to enact change and protect a vulnerable population around town: elementary schoolers.
On May 21, despite the sprinkles of rain and dark clouds looming above, Granville first responders and parent volunteers turned out to teach kindergarten students at Granville Elementary School about pedestrian safety and the services of police officers and firefighters.
“Our goal is to get the message out there,” said Laura Weaver, Claire’s mom and teacher at the elementary school.
The most important thing children can do, Laura Weaver explained, is pay attention: Look where they’re walking and when they’re crossing, keep their eyes peeled and be aware of their surroundings at all times.
To get that message across, through several grants provided by The Energy Cooperative and the Granville Education Foundation, and the help of the Granville Recreation District, the school transformed its gymnasium into a “safety village.”
The floor was covered in a tarp that resembled a mini neighborhood, and a dozen play houses decorated the “blocks.” Students buckled up their helmets, with help from parents and educators, and grabbed their scooters.
Some students eagerly waited behind traffic lights, while getting ready to rev their engines. Other students waited at crosswalks for their turn to cross the street. Only a few traffic jams were reported.
Outside, the Granville Township Fire Department and the Granville Police Department talked with the students about all the things they do in their day-to-day lives. Hands shot up to ask – and answer – questions that arose from the curious crowd.
Granville Township firefighters took their time with the kids, showing them different tools equipped with the trucks and even letting them walk through the fire truck.
A firefighter lifted each child from the truck to the ground. Their smiles were contagious.
When it was time to check out the ambulance, the students were taken through the ambulance and gazed at all the medical equipment. One student, who was celebrating a birthday, was loaded up into the stretcher and wheeled out of the ambulance – a theatrical surprise to his classmates. He waved proudly from the stretcher to his fellow classmates.
The event was pulled off with the hard work from the Weavers. Applying for grants and finding the funding for the day was the biggest challenge, according to Claire Weaver. By the looks of the students’ faces, all the hard work had paid off. Students were being taught valuable lessons about pedestrian safety and the resources that residents of Granville rely on.
Claire Weaver is not the first child in Granville to be struck by a vehicle: In 2016, a 12-year-old was struck on Broadway while riding his bike, and in 2012, a 15-year-old was struck by a car while riding her bike on North Pearl Street.
“This experience helped me get closure on what happened,” Claire Weaver said, “instead of it being a negative thing, it’s been turned into a positive thing.”
Liv Barton writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.