Girl Scout troop takes crosswalk safety into their own hands

CREATED Jun. 12, 2012

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  • School is out for the summer, but a local Girl Scout troop is making sure kids will "Be Smart and Be Safe" when they return in the fall. Video by ktnv.com

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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- School is out for the summer, but a local Girl Scout troop is making sure kids will "Be Smart and Be Safe" when they return in the fall.

When Girl Scout Troop 199 started thinking about what they wanted to do for a service project, they didn't have to look far. They saw a problem in their own neighborhood.

"It can be really dangerous," Girl Scout Clarissa Stout said. "Cars, they don't pay attention. And kids, they jaywalk right through the street. It really bugs me, it's not safe at all."

So the troop started working with the city to see if anything could be done.

"I thought it was necessary because there was a certain incident a few months ago with a girl getting hit by a bus because she didn't pay attention," Lily Jackson with Troop 199 said. "We decided that was horrible and we needed to do something about it."

The CCSD Safe Routes to School program had crosswalk reminders that hadn't been used in a while.

"These stencils they're putting on the ground remind children to look left, right, left," Hayden Ross with Safe Routes said. "Children often forget that, so it's nice to have a really bright reminder."

Troop members had fun painting the reminders at eight crosswalks around Betsy Rhodes Elementary School.

"We think this will get more people to pay attention, to be safer, using crosswalks," Clarissa said. 

School officials hope it will do more than just that.

"We hope this message spreads," Ross said. "We hope other troops and organizations take a look at this and are willing to join us in our crusade to make our schools safer and our community safer."