ANSONIA — Ansonia Elementary School sixth-grade safety patrol students Peyton Beam and Carrie Rhoades recently were named Miami Valley area AAA Lifesaving Medal honorees.
They were nominated by Ansonia AAA School Safety Patrol Adviser Leslie Rhoades.
For the first time in 42 years, AAA awarded 11 AAA Lifesaving Medals to AAA School Safety Patrollers across the country. The medals were given to patrol members who save a life in the line of duty.
Rhoades and Beam were among the four AAA School Safety Patrollers from the Miami Valley region who were selected to receive the coveted AAA Lifesaving Medal of Honor. These students were selected by a panel of judges representing law enforcement and public health.
“I felt honored,” said Carrie. “I knew this little action would make a big impact on others.”
The 12-year-old daughter of Doug and Leslie Rhoades, this sixth-grader is in her third year as safety patroller.
“All of my siblings have been on safety patrol,” she said. “My sister was a captain.”
Beam, son of Jill and Travis Beam, is in his second year of safe patrolling.
“It felt good [to receive the award],” he said.
Carrie said she is a major while Beam is a captain.
“There are only a few of these in the United States,” said Ansonia Elementary Principal Krista Stump. “This is very big. Last year we had Safety Patroller of the Year, LeAnn Ressler, and the year before, had Adviser of the Year, Rick Kies, now retired. We’ve gotten three big awards.”
Stump went on to say, “Safety patrollers are responsible kids and that’s what helps them develop leadership skills. They have to be on time [at 8:30 a.m.], read signs to see their jobs and keep their grades up.”
There are 34 safety patrollers at Ansonia; three majors and three captains.
“This was an extraordinary year for the program, with the quality of submissions and number of award recipients being direct reflections of the hard work clubs put forth in 2015 to promote AAA’s School Safety Patrol and bring greater recognition to the awards program,” said AAA National Traffic Safety Advocacy Manager Rhonda Shah. “The results illustrate the many examples of tremendous stories for us to celebrate as we prepare for the centennial anniversary of the program in 2020, and all participating clubs should be commended for their efforts.”
In its 96th year, the AAA School Safety Patrol program is the association’s longest-running safety program, with more than 654,000 patrollers working in more than 34,500 schools nationally to ensure their peers commute safely to and from school.
