It’s not your typical relay race.
Rob Claus, Alex Massaroni, Chris Marco and Mike Mora step up to the starting line, and on the official’s whistle, they rush to an open van.
They climb into its four seats, strap on their safety belts as fast as they can and raise their arms above their heads.
Go, says the official.
The four Mohonasen seniors jump out of the vehicle and each runs to a different seat inside the van, repeating the process.
This time, Claus pulls too hard on the seat belt and nearly falls out of his seat. The crowd of more than 100 students and teachers laugh.
Still, the team keeps going and after all four members have successfully put on their safety belt in each of the van’s four seats, they listen for their time.
`Thirty-seven-point-eight-two seconds,` says the official.
`That’s the best time of the day,` says Sgt. Tom Culbert, a student resource officer who arranged for Mohonasen High School students to participate in the school’s inaugural Battle of the Belts relay challenge, an event that reminds high school students to buckle up.
Raising awareness
Culbert is the advisor for Mohonasen’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club, which organized the event.
He said the challenge is part of several initiatives by the SADD club that takes a proactive look at how to prevent unsafe behavior.
Skylar Aviza, SADD club president, said she was impressed with the enthusiasm students, teachers and administrators had for the Battle of the Belts.
`I’m really glad a lot of people participated,` said Aviza. `Not only did we get kids in lunch or study hall to participate, but we were able to have a lot of kids get a pass to come here during class.`
Last week, the members of the SADD club set up a random seatbelt checkpoint outside of the school to get the word out about Battle of the Belts.
Aviza and Culbert were pleasantly surprised that 100 percent of the students stopped at the checkpoints were wearing the appropriate safety harness.
`The more kids see this sort of thing, and the more fun they have with safety events, the better the chances are they’ll remember to drive safely when they’re out by themselves,` said Culbert
Eighteen teams of four competed in the Battle of the Belts for a chance to win a dinner at Katie O’Byrne’s restaurant in Schenectady.
Outspoken support
The seatbelt relay was tied to Sean’s Run, a 5K race held annually to commemorate the 2002 death of Chatham High School student Sean Patrick French. Sean’s Run provided the SADD club with a $400 grant to buy Battle of the Belt T-shirts. The shirts, designed in the school’s orange and black colors, were emblazoned with the words `In Memory of Sean.`
The team of Claus, Masseroni, Marco and Mora went on to win the competition, advancing to the Battle of the Belts regional competition held at the Sean’s Run event on Sunday, April 26, in Chatham.
Sean Patrick French was the nephew of Mohonasen School Board President Eileen French. Eileen French has been outspoken in her support of the new SADD chapter, which was officially founded this fall.
`We have a personal connection to this issue in our district,` said Patrick McGrath, principal of Mohonasen High School. `Many of our students are just receiving their drivers’ licenses and we wanted to take a different and creative way to remind them about how important it is to wear a seat belt.`
McGrath said he hoped to make Battle of the Belts an annual event.
`Sgt. Culbert has been very active with the new SADD, and we want to continue to provide programs that teach smart decision-making,` he said.
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