I rustled up an OL presentation opportunity at Paredes Middle School this afternoon by calling persistently until I found a helpful and interested person, Debbie Sanders. Went down with my railroad crossing sign as a prop and a thumb drive with two different OL presentations, both drawn from the standard menu of Powerpoint pictures. I alternated the different presentations with various classes. The staff brought in students that were on their study session breaks to the library, where I used a school projector and computer to present. I was able to do four presentations for a total of 99 students, so I would count that as a very successful afternoon. And Debbie indicated they might ask me to come back in the new school year to do some more, so that would be a great long-term opportunity. Paredes Middle School is south of Slaughter Lane, west of IH-35 by about a mile or so. The students were 12-14 years old, a great age to reach them with railroad safety info since they will be driving in the not-too-distant future. Here are several photos that Debbie took during one of my presentations:
Yesterday I arranged another OL opportunity for the Kids R Kids Academy Child Safety and Protection Festival this coming July 14 in northern Austin. I did it last July or August so this is a repeat. I will be doing OL presentations along with a motorcar static display so that will draw interested persons in. Of course, the presentations will be to a maximum of four or five persons at a time so its hard to build up high numbers like you can with presentations in a school but we do our best no matter what.
And I will similarly be doing a motorcar static display and OL presentations at the San Angelo Railroad Museum Hobo Days event this June 10 in San Angelo. Although that's not in the Capital Metro service area, where I focus my efforts, we think it will help us generate good will toward RPI in the railroad community and that is priceless.
