“Just focus on getting to your destination, if it’s putting your phone away, if it’s keeping your focus on the road, I think that’s the biggest thing, is getting rid of distractions in the vehicle,” Maize High Student Resource Officer Brayden Kriss talks about the importance of being focused while driving. “I think that’s what’s gonna help a lot of accidents or issues or general.”
The vacant Maslow’s Pantry building at the front entrance of Maize High School is being removed to open up more entrance and exit space for the school parking lot.
Maize High’s head custodian, Cody Bartlett shares his experience directing traffic and the difficulty in ensuring students’ cooperation.
“Typically students do obey the traffic laws, however with our crosswalk lights there is no sign postings stating that you need to stop when lights are active so it is very difficult. The lights aren’t positioned in the right way for drivers to see them,” Bartlett says.
Morning and dismissal rushes in and around Maize High school make accidents more likely and teenage drivers are always at high risk for accidents sources say. Whether it be due to inexperience, distraction, or even early morning tiredness. Maize High Student Resource Officer Brayden Kriss talks about the higher risks that teenage drivers face.
“They (teenagers) become a higher risk on the road, a lot of people don’t realize that teens are at a much higher risk of being involved in a crash than any other age group and that comes from just inexperience and distracted driving,” Kriss says.
Maslow’s pantry as a whole isn’t going anywhere. There will still be a location in downtown Maize for anyone in need to access. However, the old pantry building at the entrance of Maize High’s parking lot is entirely empty. For the most part, there is a neutral to positive feeling around its removal.
“It’s going to be a positive for buses and others to see what’s happening on the other side of the building,” Bartlett says, “But it’s also going to be a negative because more room means more space for incidents to happen.”
There are a number of driver education programs in the area as well as drivers ed classes offered at Maize and Maize South high schools to ensure students have the proper knowledge and experience before taking on the roads.
Student safety is a top priority at Maize high schools and this removal will hopefully ensure that even more.
“Realize that there’s other people that are also on the road. I think a lot of the times, I feel like a lot of our kids are running late and they don’t realize that they are putting others at risk and also themselves,” says Kriss.
