TTC At Livingston Partners With Booster Seat Safety Campaign
For Immediate Release
October 03, 2007
Contact: Julie Brewer
931-372-3318
www.seatbeltvolunteer.org
TTC AT LIVINGSTON PARTNERS WITH BOOSTER SEAT SAFETY CAMPAIGN
Livingston - Volunteers from the Tennessee Technology Center (TTC) at Livingston have played a leadership role in launching a new statewide safety campaign geared toward Tennessee’s children.
The Ollie Otter Booster Seat and Seatbelt Safety Education program visits elementary schools across the state to promote the use of booster seats, encourage students to wear their seatbelts and to raise awareness of roadway construction site safety. The program’s goal is to make presentations in all 95 counties in Tennessee this school year. With the help of volunteers from TTC at Livingston, the Ollie Otter program is well on its way to reaching that goal.
The unprecedented statewide educational safety campaign was launched last spring and tested in several Overton County elementary schools, including A.H. Roberts, Allons, Hilham, Rickman and Wilson schools. The program is sponsored by the Tennessee Transportation Development Foundation (TTDF) – a non-profit group established by the Tennessee Road Builders Association – and the TRBA Ladies Auxiliary.
Carol Coleman, chairperson of the TTDF and member of the TRBA Ladies Auxiliary, spearheaded the development and implementation of the Ollie Otter campaign.
“I am dedicated to this program and to getting its message out to all the children across Tennessee,” said Coleman. “I look each child in the eyes and hope that Ollie’s message makes a lasting impression, so when these children grow up and become teenage drivers they will remember to buckle up every time they get in a car.”
TTC at Livingston Director Ralph Robbins and automotive technology instructor Terry Sparks have taken a strong interest and initiative in encouraging their students to volunteer as safety advocates with the Ollie Otter program. Volunteers have assisted in elementary school presentations in Clay, Jackson, Pickett, Putnam, Smith and Trousdale counties so far.
“We feel so proud of our students’ willingness to participate in this program,” said Robbins. “We need to raise awareness of booster seat and seatbelt use, and if our involvement saves just one life, then it's well worth the effort."
The presentations feature a costumed Ollie Otter safety mascot and teach children that Tennessee state law requires the use of a booster seat until a child is 4-feet-9 inches tall or 9 years old. TTC at Livingston students assist with the in-school presentations in a number of ways, including dressing up and performing as Ollie Otter.
The Livingston campus is the first of 26 Tennessee Technology Centers to partner with the Ollie Otter program. A network of volunteers is being established through the TTCs because their campuses are strategically located across the state. Instructors, like Terry Sparks, act as liaisons between the student volunteers and the Ollie Otter program, which is coordinated by the Tennessee Tech University BusinessMedia Center in Cookeville.
“We like to do things for the community and like to be a part of the community,” said Sparks. “It’s good to give back because the community has been so good to us.”
TTC at Livingston student volunteers have included Lisa Daniels, Wendy King, Michael Martin, Jim McCloud, Eva Murphy, Joshua Redmond, Shelly Scantland and Ashley Young.
“Leadership is essential to the success of this program,” said Kevin Liska, director of the TTU BusinessMedia Center. “TTC at Livingston is setting a strong example for other Tennessee Technology Centers to follow. Their enthusiastic involvement and dedicated support is key to helping save Tennessee children’s lives.”
To prepare volunteers to conduct the in-school presentations and perform as the costumed Ollie Otter, an online training course has been developed by the TTU BusinessMedia Center through the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Continuing Education program. Volunteers must complete the course to participate in the presentations.
“TTC students gain a great deal from being involved with this program,” said Robbins, director of TTC at Livingston. “They not only become involved in community service, but they gain confidence by being in front of large groups. These kinds of experiences will help them in the job market and will benefit their future employers.”
TTC at Livingston’s involvement has greatly enhanced the program’s outreach, said Carol Coleman.
“We are so grateful to all the volunteers from the technology centers,” said Coleman. “We want to make a difference and have safer roads in our beautiful state because with safe roads and safe rides, we will save lives.”
To learn more about the Ollie Otter program, to sign up as a volunteer, or to schedule a visit from Ollie, go to www.seatbeltvolunteer.org.
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