TAKOMA Park, MD - AAA is proud to announce that Jefferson Reyes, a fifth grader at Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Montgomery County has received the highest honor bestowed upon a AAA School Safety Patroller, the Lifesaver Award.

Jefferson is one of only four students in the country to receive this award this year.  (The other three students, Vedanth Koppula, Brianna Nemenzo, and Reagan Rice also hail from a Maryland school in Howard County.) As the school year comes to an end, he was honored last week by his principal and AAA, before an audience of his family, fellow students and school safety patrollers, as well as county and police officials, including the Deputy Chief of the Montgomery County Police Department.

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. Jefferson’s quick actions exemplify the safety principles on which the AAA School Safety Patroller program was founded.

In 1949, AAA began to recognize those elite School Safety Patrol members who, while on duty, saved the life of a person in imminent danger. Since the program’s inception, 444 persons across the country have received the Lifesaver Award. Jefferson is the 445^th.

 

Montgomery County’s Super Hero, Jefferson Reyes

On October 15, 2024, Jefferson was stationed at his post, one of the school's busiest locations. It is near the bus loop exit, a complex area where multiple traffic patterns converge during dismissal time.

The area serves multiple purposes, including bus loading, family pickup, and pedestrian traffic simultaneously. The location is particularly challenging due to its proximity to a major crosswalk that requires 11 patrollers to assist with the heavy flow of cars and pedestrians. Adding to the complexity, the area connects to a street that had light rail construction at the time, creating additional congestion.

The critical moment occurred when a student, who was waiting with a parent and older sibling, suddenly broke away and ran toward the bus loop just as a bus, was turning to exit. Jefferson quickly responded by jumping forward, wrapping his arms around the child, and pulling them to safety, preventing what could have been a tragic accident.

For his act of bravery, Jefferson’s Safety Patrol Advisor, Charles Silberman, who is also a physical education teacher at Rolling Terrace nominated Jefferson for AAA’s Lifesaver Award.

“The act itself was lifesaving,” Mr. Silberman said. “But Jefferson is also thoughtful, hardworking, and truly cares about others. He has the qualities of a leader, and I hope this moment helps him see the value he has and the difference he can make.”

Jefferson, a kind, humble young man has taken on a bit of a superhero status among his friends, “I still can’t explain it,” Jefferson said. “I’m just really happy. I saved a life, and I’m proud. My friends celebrated me, and I’m just thankful.”

As a peer-to-peer leadership development program, Safety Patrols 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. There are approximately 30,000 School Safety Patrollers in Maryland.

“The maturity, dedication and heroism exhibited by Jefferson on that fateful day speaks volumes,” said Ragina Cooper Ali, AAA’s Public and Government Affairs Manager in Maryland and the Washington, DC Metro area. “Jefferson’s commitment to his responsibilities and his courageous intervention demonstrate the vital role that safety patrollers play in protecting their peers. His life-saving actions serve as an inspiring example for all of us.”

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.