JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County schools are introducing “traffic gardens” to teach students about road safety, and Twin Lakes Academy Elementary is among the schools implementing the program.
Traffic gardens are scaled-down, interactive setups where students can practice real-world traffic scenarios.
Children can take turns acting as cars using hula hoops and as pedestrians, learning how to navigate streets safely.
Third-grader Xavier Harvey explained that the lessons are important because they taught him to always let cars get first, “so I don’t get hurt,” he said.
P.E. teacher Jimmie Freeman helped create the traffic garden over the summer, saying the setup includes buildings with and without sidewalks to mimic real-life situations.
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“Even though we modified everything down... it makes things come more real-life, even though it’s at a smaller scale,” he said.
Students like Eila Gazic showed appreciation for the lessons. “If you don’t learn it here, then where else are you going to learn it?” she said.
The program also includes games, such as a parking lot game where students acting as cars try to “hit” others by matching numbers, a game Gazic said she enjoys playing because it’s fun to “be a car.”
Freeman emphasized the importance of teaching skills early to children.
“Don’t take it for granted. You might think that they might know things, but we have to teach these things. It’s our job to teach the kids how to do that, so we just all need to come together and do it.”
Twin Lakes Academy is not the only school with a traffic garden. Oak Hill Academy, Atlantic Coast High School, and Thomas Jefferson Elementary also have similar setups.
The need for such programs is underscored by recent statistics. Last year, 43 students in Duval County were hit by vehicles, with three fatalities.
As more schools consider traffic gardens, the hope is that early education will reduce accidents and save lives.