Middle schoolers from Durand, Michigan, and The School at Marygrove in Detroit recently participated in the Pop-Up Safety Town Initiative at Mcity, a 30-acre urban mobility research facility at the University of Michigan. This event, aimed at underserved communities, focuses on traffic safety and STEM education to tackle childhood injury issues. For the first time, Mcity partnered with Pop-Up Safety Town, co-founded by U-M physician Andrew Hashikawa, to engage middle schoolers from both rural and urban areas in safety and engineering experiences.
“We have never collaborated with this age group, this middle school population,” said Hashikawa, clinical professor of pediatric emergency medicine. “So I think it is a unique opportunity on multiple fronts to leverage an amazing facility and bring together experts to teach kids about safety for a group we haven’t worked with in the past.” He noted that many students had never visited a college campus, despite being close to Ann Arbor.
Connecting STEM, Safety, and Opportunity
Students engaged in interactive stations that transformed theory into practice, emphasizing injury prevention and accessibility. “When we looked at their surveys (from previous years), about 50% said that we don’t have helmets and we can’t afford them,” Hashikawa said. The initiative provided free helmets and safety education to prepare students for safer choices at home.
U-M students, including Aidan Shoresh of Tau Beta Pi, led hands-on activities, serving as STEM role models. “It’s really important because with the prevalence of online education, it’s important to have hands-on experiences,” Shoresh said. Students rode scooters through realistic intersections, learning safe street crossing and helmet use, while U-M students guided and taught safety lessons.
“Hands on is a big deal,” said Angie Jewell, a teacher from Durand Middle School. “Being able to ride on the scooters with a helmet, that was awesome.” Laura Bollinger, another Durand teacher, emphasized the importance of making mistakes in a controlled environment.
Pier-La’Shaye Walker, a fifth-grade teacher at Marygrove, noted the unique opportunity for students to explore and ask questions. “They would never have been able to do this anywhere else,” she said.
Connecting Safety Lessons
Durand Middle School principal Rebecca Shankster praised the event as a vital new experience. “They have been able to take the scooters around through the city and learn how to safely navigate roads, intersections and crossings,” she said. Teachers noted that the lessons at Mcity provide valuable references for classroom integration.
Walker highlighted the field trip’s long-term impact on inspiring college aspirations. “This is their first opportunity and I would really like it if they did more of this,” she said. As students departed with improved safety skills and new aspirations, the Pop-Up Safety Town at Mcity showcased educational innovation in bridging STEM, safety, and opportunity.
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