Last week, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) joined Ollie Otter to celebrate reaching 750,000 high-fives with a special visit to Cedar Grove Elementary in Smyrna, TN with a few of his closest friends and students from kindergarten and fourth grade.

The Ollie Otter Seat Belt and Booster Seat Safety Program began a little over ten years ago with the help of the Tennessee Road Builders Association (TRBA) and Tennessee Tech University (TTU). Carol Coleman, then president of the TRBA Ladies Auxiliary, wanted to create a program that would increase seatbelt usage in children, a message she hoped they would share with their family and remember for the rest of their lives.

"I'm very excited about the 750,000!" said Coleman. "When we started the program, our purpose was to teach the children, so that they could go home and share with their families how to be safe. My hope is that when these children become teenagers they will keep the same principles in mind that they were taught in kindergarten."

The TRBA Board of Directors supported Carol's vision with funding, and she worked with TTU's iCube (formerly the BusinessMedia Center) to create a marketing campaign that would send Ollie Otter to schools in all 95 counties to spread the message of "Under 4'9"- Booster Time!" that has now spread to eight other states: Alaska, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

"As a father, I hope all of my children remember Ollie Otter visiting their schools and giving high-fives," said THSO Director Vic Donoho. "Applying the Ollie Otter brand to something as important as buckling up magnifies a child's ability to retain child passenger safety messages."

The THSO was instrumental in the program's expansion by providing grant funding and expertise in the field of child passenger safety. Director Donoho joined Ms. Coleman for the celebration at Cedar Grove Elementary along with THSO staff members, TRBA, TTU, Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), the Tennessee Child Passenger Safety Center, La Vergne Police Department, and Vulcan Materials Company.

"The success of Ollie Otter reaching 750,000 children from different schools and age groups reinforces the importance of this program," Donoho continued. "This amazing outreach initiative continues to resonate with children. Our office is proud to support a program that touches so many young lives."

The celebration included a traditional Ollie Otter presentation, reading of Peggy Rathmann's Officer Buckle and Gloria and concluded with high-fives for each student present, adding to the new goal of 1,000,000 facing the Ollie Otter Program team.

High-fiving 750,000 kids is no small feat. Without the volunteers from Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technologies (TCAT) and other caring individuals in communities throughout the state, the Ollie Otter Program would be far from this most recent milestone in child passenger safety education. These volunteers travel with Ollie Otter to teach the proper way to wear a seat belt --"belts to bones"--and encourage them to remind their family members to "always buckle up." Not only is it safer, but it is also a law in Tennessee, something Ollie teaches students with help from local law enforcement.

"We have been attending Ollie events since they started," said Lt. Colonel Tony Barham of the THP. "If you can ingrain this concept in their minds at a young age, you don't have to re-address it when they start to drive. Yes, it is against the law not to buckle up, but the most important part is safety. People complain about a fine for a seatbelt violation, but they don't think about the consequences of not wearing it if they get in an accident."

With a message powerful enough to save the lives of children throughout the state, the Ollie Otter Program could never have too much support. The Ollie Otter Child Safety Foundation provides education materials, booster seats, and car seats to children in Tennessee through the non-profit program developed and maintained by the Tennessee Road Builders.

"Seventy-five percent of parents nationwide are misusing their car seats," said Angela Brown, Director of the Tennessee Child Passenger Safety Center. "Locally, that number is 84 percent. This means parents are not doing something right, according to vehicle and car manufacturers' standards."

The Ollie Otter program helps educate not only children but parents, as well. Those involved in the program are certified child passenger safety technicians, said Brown. Their participation creates a domino effect for spreading information.

"We call it learn, practice, explain," Brown continued. "The children and parents are learning it. They are practicing it together, and they are explaining it to others. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to transport one, too."

High-fives from an otter may not seem like a monumental, life-saving milestone, but the 750,000 high-fives given by Ollie Otter represent 750,000 children reached by Ollie's messages: "Under 4'9"-Booster Time," "Belts to Bones," and "You Otter Buckle Up, Every Time!" For more information on how you can get involved in the Ollie Otter Program, please visit www.OllieOtter.org.