Grant funding awarded for Project Prom, graduation lock-in events

The Southeast Coalition for Roadway Safety has awarded grant funding for Project Prom and graduation events at 14 area schools across the district. Schools were recently awarded $200 for student lock-in events.

Funding assists with event expenses such as location rental, food, or entertainment, the coalition said in a press release. Schools will also receive roadway safety educational items to share with students.

“We are so grateful and honored to receive the grant for our students,” said Lisa Newton, Clarkton C-4 School District Project Prom sponsor. “In order to have a successful and safe Project Prom, it takes a lot of planning and funding.”

Through this program, Newton explained, students who are attending prom, as well as the entire 7-12 grade student body, receive education on one of the most important roadway safety concerns: distracted driving.

“This provides education for students who will become drivers in the future and some who are already on the road,” she said. “This early intervention continues to impact our students as they prepare to make their way in the world and on Missouri’s roadways.”

To be eligible, schools must include a presentation or activity educating students on highway safety issues during the lock-in or the week of the event. With traffic fatalities on the rise in the Southeast District, safety education is critical to reducing serious injuries and deaths on Missouri’s roadways, according to the coalition.

Schools are choosing to educate students in various ways, including creating student PSAs, hosting their own education campaigns throughout their respective campuses, and presentations by local law enforcement and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The 43 total schools receiving grants include these local schools:

• Campbell High School

• Clarkton High School

• Dexter High School

• Doniphan High School

• East Carter High School

• Malden High School

• Naylor High School

• Neelyville High School

• Poplar Bluff High School

• Puxico High School

• Richland High School

• Southern Reynolds County High School

• Twin Rivers High School

• Van Buren High School