AAA Honors St. Mary’s County Student with Outstanding School Safety Patroller of the Year Award

HOLLYWOOD, MD (June 25, 2025) - AAA proudly announces that Morgan Welch, an eighth grader at St. John’s Elementary School in St. Mary’s County’s was recently honored with AAA's 2024-2025 Outstanding School Safety Patroller of the Year award.

Her School Safety Patrol Advisor, Ms. Barbara Skane nominated Morgan for this honor, due to her exemplary leadership qualities. Like thousands of her peers across the country, Morgan has remained committed to keeping her fellow students safe and being a positive role model at her school.

While Morgan was nominated for this award by her advisor, several of her teachers and peers also wrote letters of support for this honor and shared numerous examples of Morgan’s leadership.

One such example illustrated Morgan’s diligence in assisting a young, 1st grade student, who broke her leg and required a wheelchair, earlier this year. Ms. Skane noted that she knew she had to find someone who was trustworthy to do this because of the steep slope on the school’s sidewalk.

“Morgan stood out immediately when the injured student returned to school after her sledding accident,” said Ms. Skane. “She faithfully arrived early to school and walked the student downstairs every single day for six weeks in rain, snow, and sunny days, often in bitter cold temps,” she added.

Even when Morgan was out sick, she arranged to have her sister, another patrol member, take her place to make sure the injured student was safely escorted to class. Ms. Skane, who is also a first grade teacher added, “Morgan made my first grader feel at ease and brightened her day, chatting with her as she wheeled her down.”

In addition to her role as a co-captain of her school’s Safety Patroller Program, Morgan is an active member of the school’s yearbook committee and cheerleading squad. She is also an exemplary student, who has been on the honor roll every quarter since 4th grade and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society.

For more than 100 years, the AAA School Safety Patrol has been the world’s largest school-based safety program. Patrollers around the world provide school-aged children an extra sense of safety and security during the school day’s busiest times: arrival and dismissal. As a peer-to-peer leadership development program, Safety Patrollers are trained to recognize safety hazards to ensure a safer school environment. The presence of a AAA School Safety Patroller wearing the familiar belt and badge is a nationally recognized symbol representing nearly 680,000 children throughout the country who participate in the program each year.

“It’s the dedication and leadership of students like Morgan and countless others that have made the AAA School Safety Patrol program so impactful for decades, “ said Ragina Cooper Ali, AAA’s Public and Government Affairs Manager in Maryland and Washington, DC.

Created to make school children safer while walking to school, the program has grown-up and matured with the times while remaining steadfast to its mission to provide a safer environment and leadership opportunities for millions of school children. The training that patrollers receive instills a sense of safety beyond street crossings, including bus and car drop-offs, monitoring hallway congestion, and teaching patrollers invaluable leadership skills.

“AAA is proud to support this important safety program in St. Mary’s County and at schools across the state,” Ali added. “We provide these young people with training tools to help make their school safer. We are impressed with their leadership and initiative in implementing safety changes and improvements at their schools."

The leadership values and safety awareness have inspired many former patrollers to pursue admirable careers, including Presidents of the United States, astronauts, governors, Members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, Olympic medalists, and authors, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid author, Jeff Kinney. Many patrollers now serve as educators, executives, and community leaders.

Since 1920, AAA has been providing various equipment and education materials to patrollers, including reflective belts, patrol badges and training resources. The AAA model has been adopted in at least 30 other countries, including England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.