ATSSA Signal Nov/Dec 2018

American Traffic Safety Services Association 32 The Foundation The American Traffic Safety Services Foundation (The Foundation) exists to promote roadway safety through charitable giving and public awareness programs. The Foundation’s Mission It was more than 20 years ago when Shannon Pair of Spiro, Oklahoma, was working to remove pavement markings on a bypass in a nearby town called Mountain Home. The 31-year-old was struck and killed that Wednesday night, leaving behind his wife and two-year- old daughter Andrea Pair. Now in her early 20s, Andrea Pair is a pharmacy student at Harding Universi- ty College of Pharmacy and one of The Foundation’s Roadway Worker Memo- rial Scholarship recipients. Pair said she first learned about ATSSA and The Foun- dation in high school when shewas asked to attend a ceremony where the Nation- al Work Zone Memorial was displayed to honor her father and other roadway workers killed in work zone crashes. “When I first heard the scholarship pro- gram’s slogan of ‘Moving toward zero scholarships,’ I was thrown off because it’s such a great program that helps so many young people, but I realized it’s about working to reach a goal of having zero roadway worker deaths and that is so important,” Pair said. “It’s a goal we need to reach. For ATSSA and The Foun- dation to have that vision means they are working in many ways to help road- way workers and their families.” During her senior year in high school, Pair was a recipient of the scholarship and was the first member of her family to attend college, earning her Bachelor’s degree in 2018. Now, Pair is working on attaining her doctorate in pharmacolo- gy along with her MBA, and still receives tuition assistance fromThe Foundation’s scholarship program. “Aside from receiving financial support from the scholarship, I’ve met so many incredible people who have supported me,” Pair said. “I come from a smaller family and from a family that didn’t attend college, so in high school it was hard to see myself going as far as I have. I always dreamed about going far with my education, but I never had anyone to talk to about how to get there. Through ATSSA, I met those people and so many other people in the same circumstances I was. Meeting people who still strive to succeed despite their circumstances was amazing and life changing.” Pair said that The Foundation’s Presi- dent TomWood has been a continuous source of encouragement. Success after loss Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship recipient advances after tragedy Andrea Pair recently attended her white coat ceremony , which is an event students go through before joining the pharmacy program on Aug. 17.