Deborah Prescott | Daily Press Gabi Salo, left, leaves a handout and “Dum-Dum” sucker on the windshield of a vehicle that wasn’t appropriately cleared of ice and snow, while Rylee Kuehl looks on.

ESCANABA — Students at Escanaba High School got a crash course in safe winter driving this week.

National Honor Society students — as part of the Strive 4 A Safer Drive (S4SD) program — provided flyers to fellow students on ways to stay safe while driving during the winter in the Upper Peninsula. An information booth was set up in the high school commons.

The S4SD event started Tuesday, Feb. 18, with a penny challenge. Students were taught how to check the tread depth on a tire with a penny and then asked to check their tires at home after school. Students who took a selfie while checking the tread could bring the image to the information booth and received a cookie.

Wednesday, students chose to sign a pledge card to wear their seat belt whenever driving, or riding in a vehicle, and to clear ice and snow from their vehicle before driving. After signing the pledge card, students received an orange windshield scraper with the saying, Eskymos Drive Slow on Ice and Snow. Students who worked the information booth Wednesday, walked through the student parking lot during lunch periods and placed a zip-lock bag containing either a “Smartie” candy, on vehicles properly cleaned off of ice and snow, or a “Dum-Dum” sucker on the vehicles that had not been properly cleared off.

Thursday afternoon, ninth and 10th graders assembled to listen to representatives from the Michigan State Police (MSP), Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Mr. Tire, and the city of Escanaba.

“All those individuals speak on their expertise in their individual field. We have troopers coming to talk about safely driving in winter weather, and MDOT talking about how they clear the snow and ice from the roadways,” said event organizer Lisa Valentine, owner and instructor of 906 Drive. “A city plowman from the city of Escanaba is going to talk about do’s and don’ts … I just think it’s fabulous that they stepped up to be a part of it.”

Escanaba High School and Ontonagon Area Schools were the only two schools in the Upper Peninsula to receive a grant from the MSP through the S4SD program. The program, presented by Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) and OHSP, aims to reduce serious traffic crashes among teenagers.

Friday the event wrapped up after informing high school students how to check air tire pressure and tire treads, why snow and ice should be cleared off a vehicle before driving it, the importance of wearing a seat belt, and keeping a longer distance between vehicles.

Students who brought in selfies of themselves either checking tire treads, or clearing vehicles of snow and ice were entered into a prize drawing along with students who pledged to continue doing the activities.

“I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve had many community representatives a part of this,” said Valentine. “Mr. Tire has generously donated the grand prize, a set of winter tires.”

This is Valentine’s first year organizing the event and would love for it to grow and become community wide.