300 kids got ATV training

[JZO]

300 kids got ATV training
By STEVE VIRKLER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2009
ARTICLE OPTIONS
LOWVILLE — Lewis County officials reached more than 300 youths with their inaugural all-terrain vehicle safety program.
"They were very eager to learn," Deputy Michael K. Leviker, the parks and recreation officer at the Lewis County Sheriff's Department, told legislators last week.
Mr. Leviker and Penny L. Rowsam, 4-H youth educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County, in March conducted 15- to 20-minute ATV safety presentations to 265 then-fifth-graders at the annual Farm/Home Safety Day. Since October, the pair has conducted more in-depth sessions during gym classes at all five county school districts: Beaver River, Copenhagen, Harrisville, Low-ville and South Lewis.
About 310 pupils, now in sixth grade, received a little more than an hour's worth of basic safety training during two sessions, Mr. Leviker said. Children were shown how to pick out appropriate safety gear — using one volunteer in each class as a model — and warned of the possible consequences of riding double, among other things, he said.
The most heavily stressed message was that ATV riders should always wear properly sized helmets and keep them strapped on while riding, Mr. Leviker said.
According to exit surveys, most youths who participated in the program would be interested in more advanced ATV courses, and a PowerPoint presentation may be developed for courses next year, he said.
Lewis County 4-H during the summer was awarded $2,000 through the 4-H ATV Safety Grant Program to help implement the program in the county schools.
"Lewis County was the first county in New York state to be awarded this grant," Mr. Leviker said.Similar programs are conducted elsewhere in the county, particularly in the south and west, he said.
Mr. Leviker and Mrs. Rowsam over the summer attended a four-day training session at national
4-H headquarters near Washington, D.C., as part of the grant program.
The program stipulated that at least 200 children participate in ATV training this year.

[JoeR]

Very cool.