We held another public meeting for the Smithville Safe Routes to School Plan on Thursday, October 15 in the Recreation Center. We discussed the SSRTS Plan, which was submitted to the Texas Department of Transportation for their review on Sept. 30, the preliminary feedback from caregiver surveys, and next steps. Admittedly, a light turnout (we had to contend with a JV game and all the other great activities in town), so we focused on getting the word out to the public. Some ideas included: * Getting another article in the Smithville Times -- the gossip column would be a great place to list activities * Going to the Booster Club meetings (one of our SRTS Stakeholder Team members did so earlier this week and had a great reception) * Scheduling a meeting with all the Booster Club presidents * Working with the Student Council Coordinators * Speaking to Student Council students * Requesting teachers to get SRTS into student lesson plans so that students will discuss the project and the survey with their parents If you have any other ideas, please send them to me! We also discussed the caregiver survey... In order to have some preliminary data, we requested parents to get their surveys in by October 16. To date, we have received 55 surveys. Although the initial deadline has passed, this was ONLY to try to get some data together for the Plan we submitted to TX DOT. The survey is still available on line, and we encourage you to take it as soon as you get the chance. Our goal is to have feedback from as many primary caregivers, teachers, and students as we can. For our next steps, in addition to getting more feedback from the community, we will be working on the grant application under the assumption (until we hear otherwise) that TX DOT approves our plan. The grant application will be due on November 30. As with all grants, if we do not make the cut here, I will be seeking other sources of funding to get this worthwhile project going! Finally, we discussed the progress already being made at the schools to increase safety. Several of the recommendations of the Plan come from what school officials already know and are in the process of correcting. For example, timing the classes and end of school to better coincide with school bus arrival has been coordinated for safer pick-up procedures. Other improvements that do not cost anything are also in the process of planning and implementation as well. Thanks as always to all the interested people making things happen in Smithville! Please check back to this website for more information, or contact me (Jill Strube) if you want to learn more about this or another community project.
Posted:
FEMA has released more information about threats of wildfires in Texas. Please remember that Smithville is hosting a "firewise" workshop on Saturday, February 11 from 9AM-11AM at the Recreation Center to give you the information and tools you need to reduce the threat of wildfires near your home.
If you have a child in school in Smithville, please take our survey to let us know about how you feel about allowing students in your care to walk or bike to school. This is required through the grant we received for Safe Routes to School, and your answers will help us measure how well the program is working. Thank you for your participation in this important survey!
If you haven't seen it yet, watch the Day Tripper Episode 303 on Smithville. It features Zimmerhanzels, Tom Tierney, Main Street, Buescher State Park, and many other familiar places.
Please check out our local historian David Herrington's website about Smithville History. He and Carol Snyder literally wrote the book ("Images of America: Smithville") so he knows what he's talking about!
We always knew it, but Smithville is now officially a member of "Communities of Character" through the International Character First program. The character traits emphasized include: Loyalty, Justice, Self-Reliance, Self-Discipline, Integrity, Honor, Patriotism, Respect, Honesty, Responsibility, Compassion, and Perseverance. Smithville’s participation in this program is a natural extension of its strong tradition of service. Citizens take great pride in the many programs and projects that have been accomplished as a result of tenacious and committed volunteers.
You can subscribe to this blog via RSS feed and recieve regular updates easily in your RSS reader or browser.