Elementary School Students To Become SEPTA Safety Ambassadors
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Students from St. Mary Interparochial School at 5th and Locust Streets will become ambassadors for safety in a year-long partnership with SEPTA.
Some of their handiwork will also be featured on the transit authority's buses, trolleys, and trains.
Kindergarten-through-eighth graders at the Catholic elementary school, founded in 1782, watched a rousing video from the Phillie Phanatic, received a personal visit from SEPTA's mascot, PAWS, and a pep talk from SEPTA's Director of Operational Safety Ed Abel.
"We want you boys and girls to tell us how to be safe around our equipment, so that we can get the word out to everybody else," Abel said.
The students will participate in a contest to write essays and create posters on what transit safety means to them, with the theme "Be Aware of Your Surroundings."
Twelve-year-old Nora hopes it'll keep everyone safe.
"I think it's important, because a lot of people don't ride SEPTA properly," she said.
Students like 14-year-old Christopher are excited to learn that their work will be featured on poster-sized car cards throughout the system, including a SEPTA "Make the Safe Choice" bus wrap.
"Definitely include some safety tips that we learned, maybe an illustration," he said.
Kaia, a 13-year old St. Mary student, had several takeaways.
"Do not step across the yellow line, don't step in the gap on the Market-Frankford line, don't walk across the tracks, and don't walk in front of a bus, because it has to keep moving," she listed.
During the authority's system-wide Safety Day next May 2, 20 St. Mary students will be become junior safety officers to meet and greet passengers on the Market-Frankford line.
