‘Oh deer’: Grade 12 students’ school project becoming signage in Winnipeg

Two Grade 12 students are making a creative and long-lasting impact in their neighbourhood with new signs warning motorists about deer.

Two Grade 12 students in the Wildwood neighbourhood decided to go door knocking for their school project, and now their initiative may become part of the city’s permanent signage.

Zachary Zegalski and Rhys Jassal go to St. John’s Ravenscourt and were tasked with creating change within the community as part of a class.

To complete the assignment, the pair placed 50 lawn signs reading ‘Oh Deer, Watch Out!’ around the community, warning drivers to pay attention to the deer population.

However, before they started the project, they knocked on their neighbours’ doors to hear what residents wanted.

“We wanted to, rather than go out on our own assuming what the community wanted to have changed, we wanted to actually get to know what they thought needed to be changed within the community because (we are) just two students going to (St. John’s Ravenscourt) within the community,” Zegalski told CTV News on Saturday.

“What do we know, compared to residents who actually live here?”

Zegalski said after talking with the residents, the consensus of concern was clear -- the number of drivers on the road and their speed.

“Of course, you can’t stop that within a residential area with people going 50 km/h without legal changes. But what we can do is get people aware of the issues at hand and how they can adapt,” Zegalski said.

Zegalski and Jassal came up with the catchy phrase of ‘oh deer’ with a little bit of inspiration from the Winnipeg Police Service’s ‘Why That Fast?’ sign.

“We both thought we needed a catchy phrase that people can see … we wanted to replicate something exactly like (the WPS’ sign),” Zegalski said.

Incoming: the temporary and permanent signs

Zegalski said in the end, he and Jassal met with Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, who was supportive of the idea.

“We teamed up with a local graphic designer, Evan Kuz, within the Wildwood community and we said, ‘We need something that is suitable for a community landscape but also noticeable to make enough change from ongoing drivers,’” Zegalski said.

The pairs’ project didn’t stop there.

“We’ve also secured three permanent (signs) that the city will now put up some time within the next few months.” Zegalski said.

As for what grade the students received on their project, Zegalski confirmed they got 99.4 per cent.