Major Rick Carpenter holds a sign with a safety message
to students leaving for Spring Break.

FHP Major Rick Carpenter, Troop B Commander, and Lieutenant Mike Burroughs recently participated in a Safety Send-Off Wave to Columbia High School Students leaving for Spring Break. Mrs. Gloria Wright, CHS Director of Students Against Destructive Decisions organized the event in an effort to prevent underage drinking and other dangerous decisions that normally accompany Spring Break.

Lt. Mike Burroughs, Public Information Officer for Troop B,
holds a sign with a safety message while Larry, the Crash Dummy, helps out.

This event culminated in two-weeks of a series of events aimed at reducing the amount of teenage fatalities and underage drinking in Columbia County. Lt. Mike Burroughs gave a series of six lectures in Mr. Wendell Feagle's Driver's Education Classes at CHS. Additionally, Lt. Burroughs gave a safety presentation to the Senior and Junior students of Columbia High School regarding underage drinking and driving, as well as other traffic safety-related issues involving teenagers. Major Carpenter and Lt. Burroughs participated in a Project CATCH "Town Hall" Meeting that included a Student Panel that incorporated students from Columbia and Ft. White High Schools. The students were able to exchange ideas and facts from a student perspective with members of an Expert Panel that Major Carpenter and Lt. Burroughs participated in. The exchange was very informative and shed light on how prevalent underage drinking is among teenagers.

FHP Troop B is an active member of the Columbia County Project CATCH and continues to participate in programs to reduce underage drinking among teenagers and to reduce the percentage of teenage traffic fatalities.