Story by Megan Sparks
West’s newest club, Titan Click, sponsored by English Teacher, Alisa Casady, wanted to find a way to show students how important it is to wear their seatbelts while driving. “There was a similar club at the school where I used to teach. I thought it made an impact on the students there and noticed that there was not a club strictly devoted to safe driving practices here at West,” Casady said. Unlike most clubs at West, Titan Click’s goal is more centered around a very common interest among young drivers.
Junior Libby Kane says that the main point of this club is to spread awareness that the number of teens driving recklessly is rapidly growing. “Our goal is to promote safe driving among teens at West. We strive to make the community a safer place, therefore promoting to wear your seatbelt and prevention from distracted driving will ensure that. Teens wearing their seatbelt can make a huge difference and can save many lives. We are here to remind students to wear their seatbelt and put all distractions away from driving,” says Kane.
Titan Click may be a new club to West, but they decided to come up with a fun contest to get students at West involved. “Titan Click members came up with the Seat Belt Selfie as a part of the Battle of the Belts competition. It was simply one part of the overall campaign to get people to buckle up. The first place winner of the contest won a Sarpinos Pizza gift card, second place won a Taco Bell gift card, and third place won a Chick-Fil-A gift card,” Casady said.
This idea was also a fun way to help get message out about how important it is to wear a seatbelt. “The idea of seatbelt selfies arose from the thought of our target market’s interests. We knew many teens, specifically ones at West are very active with social media, so we thought we could promote our overall message through social media. Many teens enjoy selfies, so we thought the seatbelt selfie contest would be something fun they could participate in, while promoting the use of seat belts,” says Kane.
The results of the contest were: first place- Sophie Roach, second place- Mckenzie Kavanaugh, and third place- Madison Crosby.
Now that the contest for the seatbelt selfie has ended, Titan Click looks to the future on what to do next to encourage teen drivers at West. “Our overall goal is to bring awareness about safe driving. There will be another event in the spring. We may have events like a guest speaker, events through the highway patrol, or other activities. They have yet to be planned by the group,” Casady said.
Photos courtesy of Audrey Fleenor, Cole Huff, James Wiley, and Anna Huffman,
