May 27, 2008

Carteens Program

Don Baumer who currently works for the Village of Minster , addressed the club about the Carteens Program for which he is an advisor.  Don is also a farmer and as an advisor, he volunteers with the program which is part of the Auglaize County 4H extension program. 

 The program is 8 years old and he sees approx. 250 kids per year go thru his program.  Don started in 2001 with his oldest daughter.  There are 54 Carteen programs statewide.  The Auglaize County program sees 18-22 kids per month between the ages of 15-18. The program rarely sees repeat offenders. Judge Spees requires that part of the speeding ticket fine be that the teenager attends monthly Carteen meetings.  Teenagers will view a VHS tape, Signal 30, which has real life accidents for the kids to learn from.  He stresses the importance of not speeding, wearing a seatbelt and if parents pay car insurance, they need to let their child(ren) know how much that insurance is and of any increases.

The Carteens program works closely with the State Highway Patrol.  The monthly meetings are held at the Wapakoneta State Highway Patrol office.  An officer will also talk to the teenagers as well during their meetings.  Don and a state highway patrol officer have spoken at New Bremen and New Knoxville schools and is currently speaking to St. Marys freshman health classes. He is hoping in a few years to go into other schools in the area.  Don has built a crash simulator that goes 22 mph. There are two dummies that sit in the crash simulator to show people what can happen in an accident.  There are only two crash simulators in Ohio .  Don travels to other towns in Ohio for demonstrations and parades, etc. 

Hosting Rotarian: Joni Leffel