Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/207624
D THE ROAD om munity impact across B.C. LEADING PATROL NATION the statistics are worth noting: a recent poll conducted by BCAA found that 78 per cent of British Columbians have seen drivers speeding in a school zone, and almost 20 per cent have seen a near-miss in a school zone. But when 11-year-old Joanne Lee signed up last year to be a school safety patroller, it by Jessica Werb wasn't cold stats that convinced her to don the recognizable safety vest and keep her schoolmates safe. "I wanted to be a good role model, and a leader," the South Burnaby Clinton School Grade 6 pupil explains, earnestly. "I wanted to have the responsibility to take care of our school safety...I believe that there have to be safe conditions for everyone to do what they want to do." Lee first learned about being a safety patroller through her older cousins who had been involved in the program. "I would wait for them after school and watch them, and it seemed like a good responsibility to have." IStock p30-34_Community Impact.indd 31 (Clockwise from bottom left) BCAA volunteers at work in Camp Squamish; the United Way mascot visits BCAA; Olympian and World Champion Jennifer Botterill is a former school safety patroller herself; getting more kids into car seats is a BCAA priority; celebrating the school safety patrol program with Craig Kielburger and Botterill. Today, Lee says she really does feel like a leader – and is recognized as such by other students. "Younger kids, if they have a problem, they come to me," she notes proudly. "Like, kindergarteners will come to me and say, 'Somebody pushed me,' and things like that. And I try to help them." Westworld >> w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 31 13-10-25 10:31 AM