A few years after our club was formed, the first baby was born to Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotarian, Dr. Jeff Jarvis and his wife Pam Jarvis. That baby girl, Katy, is now a senior at Monta Vista High School. And she is following in her father’s footsteps by exhibiting Rotary ideals of ‘Service above Self’.
Katy Jarvis along with her friend, Cara Henderson, are Ambassador Girl Scouts, the highest level in Girl Scouts. They are members of Troop 31014, and Helen Coleman, wife of Immediate Past President, Jim Coleman, is their Gold Award Coordinator. Their advisor is Belinda Danielson who advised on content. For their Public Service module of their Gold Award project, they worked on an educational program titled “Teens Against Texting”.
The program consists of three components: a 25 minute film, a Pledge book, and a windshield sticker. Their goal is to have public high schools and driving schools adopt their program.
The film started out with a 911 call from an actual accident. Interspersed among real life stories were teenagers reciting statistics about causes of accidents, such as that teenagers have the lowest incidence of seat belt use.
One of the interviews was of Robert Pack, who told of losing his son and daughter to a drunk driver. Another one was of a teenage boy who was speeding and was involved in a fatal accident. He had serious injuries himself, but also lives with the stigma. People look at him differently and don’t trust him.
Katy filmed the documentary herself with the help of her friends. The message of the film are “Don’t let this happen to you!” “Is it Worth it?” “Save Lives—Don’t text and drive!”
