Madd Messenger

Patia Wilson, who is an accomplished artist, drew for Ruapotaka School a picture of Superman in under 7 minutes. He used pastels and mainly the colours dark blue, light blue, red, yellow, black and cream on a pitch black canvas. He used smudging in the end and autographed it in deep purple.  
By Milana

Safer Crossings by Milana.K

Why a Pedestrian Crossing is Safer Now than in the Past.

In the past there were a lot more injuries and accidents to pedestrians because there were no pedestrian crossings. There were gravel roads, which made it harder for the cars to slow down or completely stop. People didn't really take responsibilities such as holding their children’s hand to cross. Road rules didn't really exist back then so cars shared the road with pedestrians.

When more people started buying cars the government started thinking about all the lives wasted on the road. They started marking the road and separating the place where cars drive, and the place where pedestrians should walk. Then they invented the highlighted vests to wear when people went out in the dark. Parents started being more responsible and keeping their children to the side of the road and holding their hands when they were about to cross the road, but the gravel roads were still a problem. More and more cars were speeding and continuing the old ways. To solve this problem people started making roads out of asphalt.

In our days there are not a lot of injuries on the crossing but there are rules to keep you safe. In most schools, the seniors are trained to be on road patrol to keep the juniors safe on the road. Also there are lights and signs which tell the drivers how close they are to the pedestrian crossing.

The results of all the efforts by the government and people have paid off. People live longer lives now and are safer than ever before.