Honoring Trooper Nick Dees 150 - 400 points
On January 31, 2015, Trooper Nick Dees and Trooper Keith Burch were responding to a collision involving a tractor-trailer on I-40 in Seminole County near Pottawatomie County line. While assessing the scene, a driver struck both officers. Trooper Dees died instantly, and Trooper Burch sustained serious injuries. It was discovered that the driver of the vehicle had failed to yield to the flashing lights at the scene because they had been sending and receiving text messages for several miles.
As a result of this horrible crash, the Trooper Nick Dees Law, Title 47-11-901d, went into effect November 1, 2015. This law states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway within this state while using a handheld electronic communication device to manually compose, send or read an electronic text message while the motor vehicle is in motion.”
Take time on January 31st, or the week leading up to it, to honor and educate your students and school about Trooper Dees and the Nick Dees Law. This can include but is not limited to:
Mayor proclamations
Guest Speaker
Morning announcements or video announcements
Flyers
Article in school or local paper
Bulletin Board
Chalking the sidewalks
Messages on marquees or in school handouts
Remember, the goal of this activity is to Honor Trooper Dees and the law that bears his name. There are several local law enforcement agencies who have volunteered to partner with schools/FCCLA chapters to honor Trooper Nick Dees. If you live in one of the following cities or counties, please reach out to the local authorities for a partnership:
Atoka PD
Canadian County Sheriff’s Office
Disney PD
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
Owasso PD
Comanche PD
Guymon PD
Tishomingo PD
Stillwater PD
Norman PD
Calera PD
Wellston PD
Is This Activity Online, In-person, or both: Both
Category: Free
Point Value: 150 - 400
Submission Instructions: To get your points
Complete the activity as described above.
Take photos/video of students participating in the activity.
Click "Submit Points."
Fill out the online submission COMPLETELY
Enter the name and email of the submitter
Upload your photos/video and a brief description of the activity (including the date of completion and any people pictured in the photo).
Schools must take new photos with and submit these pictures to earn points again for the current year.
We will be updating the Leaderboard weekly. Please have patience if your points do not show immediately.
Share photos and videos to school social media sites and tag Oklahoma Challenge and sponsoring safety organization.
Facebook #okchallenge or @OKChallengeDistractedDriving
Twitter @OK_Challenge or #okchallenge
Instagram @oklahomachallenge or #okchallenge
About/Contact Information:
Contact Name: Nele Rogers
Email: Nele@oklahomachallenge.org
Phone: 405.618.0901
Organization: Educational Alternatives - Oklahoma Challenge
About Your Organization: The Oklahoma Challenge was created in 1984 to address the dangers of teen drunk driving and encourage young drivers to wear their seat belts. Following great success in these areas, Oklahoma Challenge turned its attention to a rising concern - the dire problem of distracted driving, especially among people 15-20 years-old. Working in partnership with the Oklahoma student groups, the Oklahoma Challenge has endeavored to educate teens about the dangers of engaging in distracting activities - such as texting, talking on the phone, and applying make-up - while driving. From the beginning, the Oklahoma Challenge has been unique from other initiatives in that it empowers student leaders to go back to their schools and put on the awareness activities themselves – teen to teen. By focusing on peer-to-peer communications instead of an adult-driven campaign, the messages about the dangers of distracted driving are more likely to make a lasting impact. In fact, research shows 44 percent of teen drivers say that they would be thankful if a passenger complained about their texting while driving.
Organization Website: https://oklahomachallenge.org