NEWS
SCHOOLS The LiveFree! Club at Pinellas Park, as well as other high schools in the county, is about spreading the message to teenagers about the effects of drugs and alcohol. “We really want to make an impact on students so that they can make the right and safest choices. This shoe display is hopefully going to do just that. Each and every shoe you see represents a teenager’s life, a teenager that was killed because someone decided to drink and get behind the wheel to drive” said senior Anna Hampton, the club’s president. “The point we hope to get across is that these 100 shoes will never be walked in again. It shows us how short life can be. Every single choice we make paves the path for our future and even other’s.” This is a club of GOOD kids. And they are led by a GOOD teacher for a GOOD cause. After six years as the club’s advisor, the shoe memorial is Coach Hanson’s swan song, as he retires from teaching at the end of this school year. It was a Saturday afternoon at Home Depot on Ulmerton. In the corner, about 15 students from Pinellas Park High School’s Live Free Club were building shelves with the help of master carpenter, Robert Smith. Not just any shelves. Shelves that would hold shoes. Not just any shoes, empty shoes that will represent teenagers in Florida who died from drugs or from drinking and driving so far in 2014. The idea came from the club’s faculty advisor, Coach Paul Hanson, but the students were behind it 100 percent. The three shoe shelves will be arranged to form a U-shaped memorial. Shoes will be glued in place. Home Depot’s Smith created the design and helped them construct the shelves. The store also donated paint and other materials to help the students. Shoes were donated by club and community members. The memorial will be unveiled at Pinellas Park’s homecoming on October 17th. Live Free student members will walk their peers by the rack to show them the shoes, describing what they stand for and who they stand for. They will encourage good decision making, like not ever taking drugs, drinking and driving or being a passenger with any driver who has been drinking. Don’t leave your family with only empty shoes is the message. And then they will ask them to sign a pledge about respecting themselves and honoring their families enough to make good decisions.
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Fall Issue 2014
“Coach Hanson has always been the perfect sponsor. He leads this group in a way that no one else will be able to. The connection he has with students isn’t superficial. I speak for the whole club when I say that we love coach Hanson and will miss him dearly,” said Paige Kennedy, club member. Anna Hampton agrees. “Mr.Hanson is more than just a teacher or coach or sponsor. He is a friend. I know that I can always go to him about anything. There aren’t many high school teachers that truly care about their students like he does.” The club will find other events for the shoe memorial and their pledges to keep the message, and other kids, alive.