Pictured: Col. Randy Ginn of MHP spoke to students in special assembly.
PPCA Counselors Tammy Files and Bethany Brand raised awareness among students and faculty for Red Ribbon Anti-Drug Week.
Students wore red on Friday to show their support and 7G-12G had a special assembly in the Sanctuary.
PPCA Director of Safety Jim Jordan introduced the special speaker who spoke to students about safe driving habits.
Col. Randy Ginn of the Mississippi Highway Patrol Department of Public Safety spoke to the students about four areas of concern for drivers, regardless of age or experience.
Speeding, Impairment, Safety, and Distracted while Driving were his main points.
Using volunteer students to demonstrate via a tape measure held across the width of the church sanctuary, Col. Ginn showed how far a car travels in one second, if hit while going 45 mph.
The answer was 66 feet in one second, which is wider than the room. If a car is going 60 mph, then the distance would be 88 feet.
As the Assistant Commissioner of Public Safety and Director of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, Col. Ginn also showed a gas station’s video that recorded a two-vehicle accident from last July.
Students and adults watched carefully as he pointed out the car that pulled out into the path of a pick-up truck going 45 mph, hitting it and sending the truck rolling for several yards.
He related that both drivers were not killed, but had the pickup driver not been wearing a seatbelt, his injuries would have been worse, perhaps fatal, than having five ribs and his neck broken.
Ginn could report that the driver has recovered because the pickup driver was his father, a preacher in the Tupelo area.
PPCA students and faculty were blessed to hear the instructions given by Col. Ginn, as his accomplishments are extraordinary and extensive.
He has been Trooper of the Year twice, once for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and has received the MHP Meritorious Service Award.
Ginn is also a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Executive Institute and the FBI’s National Academy.
PPCA was honored to have Col. Ginn and Trooper First Class Ronald Bosarge, Public Affairs Officer visit and advise those who gathered.
Pictured left to right, PPCA Principal Stacey Sykes, Director of Safety Jim Jordan, MHP Col. Randy Ginn, Trooper First Class Ronald Bosarge, PPCA Counselors Bethany Brand and Tammy Files, and PPCA Administrator and Assistant Athletic Director Bobby Barrett.