By Matt Browning
There have been times where the Southeast of Saline SAFE program has had up to 60 students involved.
While they have not had a meeting yet this year, sponsor Braden Long said there are several events SAFE puts on each year.
“We are involved in the seatbelt surveys, we have had speakers, pledge card giveaways, and we attend the SAFE Conference each year,” Long said. “We also put together a mock crash once every four years.”
SAFE’s impact on the school and community is telling based on the data.
“I believe SAFE has a positive impact on our community as we are generally in the high 90’s percentage for seatbelt usage,” Long said. “Generally, while doing our surveys all of the students are wearing the seatbelt and we have between 5 to 10 parents who during our surveys are not wearing their seatbelt.”
Long has been the sponsor for five years and has seen growth in numbers and impact.“I got involved when I began as the SRO here in November of 2019,” Long said. “SAFE was a fledgling program when I took over and changed it from a crime stoppers club to the SAFE Program. I had some help starting this program from our Community Outreach Deputy at the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.”
