Worland eighth-graders participate in Life R U Ready
WORLAND – On Wednesday, Worland eighth-graders participated in the annual Life R U Ready event.
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Marcus Huff
Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper John Hoffman rides along with Worland Middle School student Marley Downing, wearing "drunk goggles" to simulate impaired driving conditions. Law enforcement and first responders taught students various lessons at Life R U Ready events on Wednesday.
WORLAND – On Wednesday, Worland eighth-graders participated in the annual Life R U Ready event.
Through a series of activities, Life R U Ready works with students to increase awareness of the consequences of at risk behaviors, decrease the motivation to participate in risk-taking behaviors and provide new opportunities for parent-teen communication.
The program is a real life simulation where students learn how to avoid the risky behaviors that can change their lives.
On Wednesday, eighth-graders were randomly assigned to participate in activities at off-campus locations including the Wyoming Boys School, Crisis Prevention and Response Center and Cloud Peak Counseling.
The Worland Community Center hosted a large portion of the activities that students participated in. They were allowed to interact with firefighters, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Wyoming Highway Patrol and more. Some of these activities included an inflatable obstacle course, being evacuated from a 'car crash', and driving a golf cart with impaired vision goggles.
Their participation in these activities taught them more about respect and responsibility, awareness and healthy lifestyles, relationships and trust, and more.
Life R U Ready was first brought to Worland after now-retired school counselor Dawn Bellis observed the program in Gillette, according to one of the current school counselors, Danielle Warren.
"Jenifer Berdahl and I took this program over, so we're unsure of how it all started. We have changed the program over the last few years to fit our community and changing needs of our students," Warren stated. "Our students enjoy the experience and learn a lot from our community leaders."
Several students participating commented on their experience.
After finishing being a part of the Worland Fire Department demonstration of excavating students from a car crash to show children some of the consequences of risky behavior, Gwyn Kordonowy, Christian Peterson, and Sam Grzybowski shared how the experience made them feel.
"I was afraid that something was going to come down on us while we were in the vehicle," Kordonowy said. Both her and Peterson agreed that it was definitely cool to see them work as a team and do it without fighting or arguing.
Grzybowski, who had watched them be removed from the wreck commented "...the doors just peeled off, when they were working on them! They took the roof right off!"
The fire department works to participate in Life R U Ready every year to show students the consequences of distracted driving crashes, and consequences of reckless behavior, according Worland Fire Department Captain Erich Berryman said. "It's definitely eye opening for students to see the possible consequences and the negative impact that reckless behavior can cause."
