If you go to McDonald’s this month, be sure to check out the tray liner underneath your Big Mac and McNuggets. It just might be Big Island grown.
If you go to McDonald’s this month, be sure to check out the tray liner underneath your Big Mac and McNuggets. It just might be Big Island grown.
It’s Pedestrian Safety Month and Hawaii is the only state with an entire month dedicated to the cause. In an effort to raise awareness for keiki and kupuna alike, the state Department of Transportation’s Walk Wise Hawaii program partnered with Kamaaina Kids for a poster contest.
Lance Rae with Walk Wise Hawaii traveled to after-school programs throughout the state, making several stops in the Hilo area, to discuss pedestrian safety.
After his presentation, kids were invited to make a poster for one of two smart safety habits: making eye contact with drivers while crossing the street, and wearing bright and reflective clothing at night. The winners were printed on McDonald’s tray liners, with their messages expected to reach more than half a million people.
Kaumana Elementary fifth-grader Tia Tanimoto was one of two winners in the contest. With more than 4,500 entries, Tia faced some tough competition, but when she broke out her art supplies she wasn’t thinking of winning.
“I had no idea that I would be in the top two,” she said last week.
Her after-school teacher had sent the poster, depicting a boy and a girl wearing bright clothing as they cross the street, in with the rest of the class entries, and Tia thought little of it.
She finished her poster in just 20 minutes, making sure to make the pedestrians’ clothing extra bright.
“I used marker for most of it, and crayons,” Tia said.
During the Walk Wise presentations, Rae said, “All the kids were really engaged.” They were asked to sign a pledge that they would relay what they’d learned to a kupuna, so more people could get the safety message.
“Right now, if you were to ask an adult what to do before crossing the street, most adults would say ‘I look both ways, and I cross the street,’” Rae said. “That’s not enough anymore.”
Not only are drivers more distracted, he said, but pedestrians are as well. Kids now are taught a different safety routine.
“I look left, I look right, I look left again,” Rae said. “I continue looking when I cross the street.”
Tia said she wasn’t sure when she would be stopping by McDonalds to see her poster, but it definitely was a plan for August.
E-mail Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.