ALABAMA DEPUTY SHERIFF RECEIVES NATIONAL "INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM" AWARD

Deputy David Haun of Talladega County Sheriff's Office to be honored by peers at national conference of school resource officers

HOOVER, Ala., June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deputy Sherriff David Haun, who serves as a school resource officer for schools in Alabama's Talladega County, including Winterboro High School in Alpine, AL, has been named the recipient of the 2023 "Innovation in the Classroom Award." The award is presented by The National Road Safety Foundation and NASRO, the National Association of School Resource Officers. Deputy Haun was selected by a panel of his peers in NASRO and received the award today at the annual NASRO Conference in Indianapolis.

The award, which recognizes innovative teaching of traffic safety in schools by a police officer, carries with it full conference registration and an expenses-paid trip to the NASRO Conference.

Dep. Haun, who has been in law enforcement for 35 years, has been an SRO for nearly five years, serving three schools. Last year he initiated the Distracted Driver Prevention Program in his high school, which included classroom discussion followed by live hands-on participation. The program was expanded to reach students at seven high schools throughout the county, and it will be broadened next year to include all high school students, beginning in ninth grade so teens will be exposed to impactful messaging on distracted driving at least four times before they graduate.

"I felt it was important to reach students and demonstrate to them the risks of distracted driving, since statistics show teens are six times more likely to be involved in a distracted driving crash than in a crash involving drinking," Dep. Haun said.

Mo Canady, Executive Director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, said, "Deputy Haun has demonstrated great creativity and his passion has help expand good programming into many more schools in the county he serves."

"We are pleased to recognize Deputy Haun's efforts that are having a positive impact on the safety of our young people on the road," said Michelle Anderson, Director of Operations at The National Road Safety Foundation.

NASRO, the world's leader in school-based policing, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 for school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators and school security and/or safety professionals who work as partners to protect schools and their students, faculty and staff members.

NASRO developed the "triad" concept of school-based policing, which divides SRO responsibilities into three areas: educator, informal counselor/mentor and law enforcement officer. By training law enforcement officers to educate, counsel and protect school communities, the more than 3,000 men and women of NASRO continuously lead by example and promote a positive image of law enforcement to school children and school communities. For more information, go to www.nasro.org

The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc. (NRSF) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that for more than 60 years has been dedicated to reducing crashes, deaths and injuries on our nation's highways by promoting safe driving habits through greater public awareness.

NRSF programs, which are free, deal with distracted driving, speed and aggression, impaired driving, drowsy driving, driver proficiency and pedestrian safety. The Foundation also works with youth advocacy groups and sponsors contests to engage teens in promoting safe driving to their peers and in their communities. For more information or to download free programs, visit www.nrsf.org.

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SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation