San Ramon Valley 'Street Smarts' Kick-Off Event on Thursday

From Street Smarts

The Street Smarts Media Kick-off Event will provide an overview of the upcoming activities of the Street Smarts program on Thursday.

The event will take place at the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Offices at 699 Old Orchard Drive, Danville, at noon.

Danville Police Chief Steve Simpkins and San Ramon Police Lieutenant Dan Pratt will be this year’s featured speakers. Simpkins and Pratt, who have spent a collective 42 years serving Contra Costa County residents, will speak about the importance of the three E’s (enforcement, education, and engineering) in addressing traffic safety. They will also talk about distractions present today for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Entering its ninth year in the San Ramon Valley, Street Smarts successfully promotes traffic safety to the community through various programs, school assemblies, bike rodeos, public events, print publications, and advertising. 

The following Street Smarts’ programs will be discussed at the event:

• Storybook Poster Contest: Every year, elementary school students from the San Ramon Valley compete to have their illustrations featured in a valley-wide storybook about traffic safety. This contest, which draws hundreds of submissions each year, showcases the artistic talent that exists in the San Ramon Valley while fostering the learning of traffic safety principles.

• “Be Reel!” Video Contest: The Street Smarts “Be Reel!” Video Contest, in which students submit 60-second videos on traffic safety themes, starts on March 4. This spring’s theme is teaching traffic safety to younger children. Finalists from the fall and spring competitions will be premiered at an awards ceremony on May 23 at the Village Theatre and Art Gallery in Danville.

• “It Happens” Campaign: It Happens, an interactive traffic safety campaign targeted at high school students, will be launched at two high schools in the San Ramon Valley this spring. Using creative slogans and imagery, students will develop an advertising campaign that highlights the many ways that high school students can safely commute to school, including walking, biking, skateboarding, taking the bus, carpooling, and driving. The winning ads will be featured at locations throughout the San Ramon Valley.

• Bike Rodeos: Each spring and fall, Street Smarts holds “bike rodeos” at local elementary schools. These rodeos teach children bicycle-riding skills and the rules of the road. Not only are these rodeos fun, but they allow the children to learn bicycle skills from local experts in a controlled, hands-on environment.

Street Smarts, a local partnership involving the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Town of Danville, City of San Ramon, Contra Costa County, and the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs, is a traffic safety education campaign. This year’s program sponsors include Sunset Development and State Farm Insurance.