A crowd of more than 180 “tweens” ranging from the age of 11-14 heard the words “Step up, Strap In” from Loyola students, all to the tune of a step show at Lafayette Academy, an Uptown elementary school.
The step show by Delta Sigma Theta featuring local celebrity guests was all a part of the Step Up/Strap In campaign hosted by Loyola’s Public Relations Student Society of America.
Research began in November when Loyola’s Bateman team wanted to spread awareness about vehicle safety targeting local schools and popular family venues. The team participates in an annual national competition that consists of putting together a public relations case study for a client. The projects may entail community service ideas with professional projects that resemble non-profit organizations.
This year the client is Chevrolet’s Safe Kids Buckle Up, a vehicle safety awareness initiative. Kelly Roth, mass communication senior, and Bateman member said they tried to put a special focus on ethnic minorities and socioeconomic status during the planning stages for their project. For example, they learned the younger generations respond to social media outlets, so the team created a MySpace Web page incorporating their message along with pictures and videos for entertainment. In January, they researched the current safety behaviors in the New Orleans area and found in their survey that 45 percent say they always buckle their seat belts.
“It’s good that we’re college kids that these kids often look up us to teach them things they need to know without having a state trooper come in and say if you don’t buckle up, you’re going to die,” Roth said.
As a part of their campaign, Loyola’s Delta Sigma Theta sorority volunteered and choreographed a step routine to assist with the interactive education session at eight different locations. Local artist Raymond “Dizzy” Seymour and Roger Donald Dickerson II, known as D.J. Raj Smoove, and radio station Q93 used their celebrity status and loaned their support in leading the group discussion throughout the eight locations.
Smoove, valedictorian at McDonough 35 high school and Dillard University, advised students to keep their grades up at all times to become successful. Cathy Rogers, Bateman team adviser and communications professor said the help of local celebrities attracts young audiences, adding to the success of the events thus far.
Inside Lafayette Academy’s cafeteria on Feb. 28, the last of eight stops for the campaign, Dizzy shared a serious sentiment to a crowd of sixth-graders. “We don’t ever want to see any one of ya’ll hurt out there. Look out for yourself and when you get into a vehicle that put on your safety belts on so if something was to occur, you’d able to protect yourselves and not get into any accidents.”
They also shared tips and safety rules including: “One seat belt per person” and “The safest place to ride is in the back seat.” After the discussion, the students participated in a “Step Off” where they broke off into five separate groups each with a stomp member to learn a few moves.
The Step Up/ Strap In campaign and case study will be competing against 65-75 schools nationally for the Public Relations Student Society of America awards. The team’s campaign Web site is: http://www.myspace.com/safekidsneworleans.
Rosie Dao can be reached at [email protected].
