Page 18 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – January 2021

AAA School Safety Patrol Celebrates its
CENTENNIAL
Follow the stories of a handful of former patrollers.
The AAA School Safety Patrol is the largest safety program in the world, equipping patrollers with the skills and resources needed to ensure children commute to and from school safely. AAA is celebrating the patrol’s centennial during the 2020-2021 school year to mark a major milestone and to honor past, present and future patrol members.
AAA School Safety Patrol was founded in Chicago in 1920 by Charles M. Hayes, president of the Chicago Motor Club, after several children at a school crossing were
killed by a speeding car. Horrified by the incident, Hayes pledged to help prevent such a tragedy from happening again. The first patrol was established with two dozen boys trained to assist students to cross the road safely.
Today, the AAA School Safety Patrol includes 585,000 members in 30,000 schools across the U.S.
The AAA School Safety Patrol has been praised by education and safety groups around the world for reducing injuries and fatalities among schoolchildren age 5 to 14.
The AAA School Safety Patrol not only contributes to reductions in pedestrian injuries and fatalities but also helps develop leadership skills within its members. Many
schools report the program provides students with an opportunity to develop self-confidence and a sense of responsibility while earning respect and recognition from their peers, school administrators and community leaders. The program also encourages academic achievement and commitment to community involvement.
The AAA School Safety Patrol was a starting point for many of our nation’s leaders. Former AAA School Safety Patrol members include Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, President-elect Joe Biden as well as several Supreme Court Justices, U.S. Senators, governors and U.S. Olympic gold medalists.
The following are the stories and pictures from a handful of former AAA School Safety Patrollers:
It was in the spring of 1943. I was in the fifth grade attending Woodside Elementary School in Newark, Ohio. Our principal, Miss Edna Warner, introduced us to the idea of forming our own Safety Patrol.
She asked for volunteers from the fifth and sixth grades. AAA gave us our official belts and badges for
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