The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has announced that the Coventry High School Clicks won the "Buckle Up Shuffle Relay" Seat Belt Challenge. The challenge finals, held this past Saturday, kicked off the state's participation in the National Click It or Ticket It Enforcement Campaign (from May 20-June 2, 2013). The contest emphasized the importance of wearing seat belts to young drivers.
Four-person teams from eight high schools competed in the finals. Rules required each four-person team to buckle up in each position of a vehicle while being timed. Students enter a vehicle, properly buckle up, unbuckle, exit the vehicle and repeat the process for all four seating positions. As each team member is buckled up, the driver sounds the horn. Every time the horn sounds, team members move to the next seating position, repeating the process until all team members return to their original seats.
The Coventry High School Clicks, with a winning time of 37.8 seconds, won the State Championship and a grand prize of $1,000, courtesy of AAA of Southern New England. Second place went to the Middletown High School Islanders, with a time of 39.5 seconds. The Cranston High School East Bad News Bucklers rounded out third place with an impressive time of 41.7 seconds.
In addition to the top three teams, the other participating high schools and teams were the Cumberland Eye of the Tiger, the Lincoln Locusts, the Rhode Island Nurses Institute Middle College RINI, the Smithfield Lady Sentinels, and the Tiverton Sammy's Speedsters.
A Flickr link to the top three teams is attached, with identifications, below. More information can also be found on RIDOT's homepage at www.dot.ri.gov, RIDOT's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RIDOTNews or Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/RIDOTNews.
Photo Identifications:
Clicks: from left to right, Lloyd Albert, AAA Southern New England presents the check to Team Advisor Joseph Lucian, as School Resource Officer Richard Pendola, of the Coventry Police Department, and Team Captain Katina Gustafson hold up the trophy. Also pictured are (from left to right) Matt Lee, Jill Ward, and Kyle Willett.
Islanders: from left to right, Team Advisor Carmela Geer, Ali Borges, Shemar Vincent, Felipe Maher and Jarrett Collins.
Bad News Bucklers: from left to right, Annie Clarkin, Caroline Lema, Hannah Meharg and Adriana Pagano.
Contact: Rose Amoros (401) 222-1362, Ext. 4450