PEORIA, AZ — An inspiring group of Valley teens is pushing for change after one of their classmates was hit and killed while crossing the street in March.
"I just, I think about it a lot and I've known him forever. It's just hard to, like, realize that happened," said Isabella Mahl, a student at Sunset Heights Elementary.
Classmates of 13-year-old River Jaice Argame are taking steps to honor him.
"We just want to make the roads safer, that's our ultimate goal," said Mackenzie Gierish, another student at Sunset Heights Elementary.
Argame attended Sunset Heights Elementary in Peoria but was taking an advanced algebra class at Liberty High School, just a half mile away. He was crossing the intersection at 98th Avenue and Deer Valley last month when he was tragically struck by a car and later died.
"I asked my teacher if anyone had done anything because I've heard countless people complaining about how bad the street was... and I just asked, like, 'has anyone done anything?' and she said 'no' and I decided I would," said Mahl.
Mahl got together with her friends to start a petition focused on safety improvements at the intersection of 98th Avenue and Deer Valley. There's already a crosswalk there but, they would like to see it much brighter.
"He was an artist; he liked painting. So, I think it would be something really artistic and beautiful," said Isabella.
Their hope is to find a way to make the crosswalk more visible and honor Argame at the same time.
"I really want a school zone, or a crosswalk, or a crossing guard to help future incidents like this be prevented," said Victoria Alvidrez, a student at Sunset Heights Elementary.
The three students shared their concerns and ideas at last week's Peoria Unified Governing Board meeting.
"We found out lots of car crashes happened on this road too and high school students have actually gotten hurt. But I don't think anyone really thought they could do something about it, so, nothing's really ever been done," said Gierish.
Argame's classmates are now looking to work with his parents on these changes in hopes of dedicating them in his name.
They are set to meet with City council next Thursday.
