Avon High recognized for seat belt usage by Click It or Ticket

Lorain County Public Health, in partnership with local law enforcement, kicked off the national Click It or Ticket campaign May 16 with a presentation at Avon High School, 37545 Detroit Road, to recognize the students for how often they buckle their seat belts. “It’s a huge campaign every year, and public high schools in Lorain County competed in the Buckle Up Bowl as a way to lead up to it,” said Avon Police Officer Patrick Sullivan, who also is the district’s safety resource officer. “The Buckle Up Bowl takes driving-age high school students and measures how often they wear their safety belts.” Sullivan said Avon High received the best record, with a 93 percent seat belt rate. “We would measure the seat belt usage by having officers going around in non-police vehicles and not wearing a uniform to see how often seat belts were being worn,” he said. “Officers from multiple cities then tallied up their respective schools, and Avon ended up on top.” Sullivan said schools ran their own campaigns to raise awareness. “I saw some signage that students made to tell people to buckle up and make smart choices,” he said. “The group here, at Avon High School, did a great job.” Natalie Sokolowski, a language arts teacher at Avon High and an advisor for the group behind the signs, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), said the goal was to reinforce a positive mindset. “Students have a lot of events, like prom, where it’s important to prevent the temptation of driving drunk, not buckling up and other bad habits,” Sokolowski said. “The club got together to come up with campaigns to dissuade students from this type of behavior. “They really did a great job; I think the message got across. The students in my group were really passionate about this. I’m glad they’re getting this recognition.” Anna Lewis, 17, a junior at Avon High, is the president of the club and received a plaque and a $250 check for the group’s efforts. “We wanted to inform our fellow students of the dangers of doing drugs, drinking and driving and not buckling up,” Anna said. “It’s important we inform our community about these things. “But it is sad to see when tragedy strikes due to destructive decisions made by high school students.”