As Safety Day gears up for its 30th year, it’s a reminder that safety isn’t a one-day event, it’s the decisions we make every day, on every jump. Normalizing excellence means making those decisions with intention and consistency until high standards become a habit. It’s the opposite of letting small deviations slide until they become normalized. When we make excellence our default, “good enough” disappears from our vocabulary and safety becomes part of every action—every day, every jump.
Make Excellence the Standard
Drop zones preparing for Safety Day can support the theme by reinforcing consistent habits long before the seminars begin. Encourage instructors and leaders to model the standards they expect to see from jumpers. Use winter training or staff refreshers to address where small deviations tend to creep in and how to counteract them. The goal is to enter Safety Day with a shared commitment that excellence is not something introduced once a year, but practiced through routine actions every day, on every jump. For a deeper look at the concept of normalizing excellence, read “Normalizing Excellence” by USPA Director of Safety and Training Ron Bell, on page 62 of the January 2026 Parachutist.
Recognize Those Who Normalize Excellence
Presenting the Chesley H. Judy Safety Award to someone who “through example, deed, training or innovation, has promoted safe skydiving in a substantive way” is an excellent way to thank a role model at your DZ. The Ches Judy is a completely grass-roots award, and this type of peer-to-peer recognition is particularly meaningful to recipients. All you need to do is choose a USPA member to receive the award, and USPA will mail you a certificate suitable for presentation on Safety Day. Send the name of the recipient, the name of the drop zone and the address to which USPA should mail the certificate to safety@uspa.org by February 20.
Increase Participation
Don’t forget to register your event at uspa.org/safetyday. This list of participating drop zones helps jumpers find an event near them and informs them of the DZ’s alternate Safety Day date if it doesn’t fall on March 14. Submitting a listing also ensures that Parachutist will mention your DZ as a participant when reporting on Safety Day in the May issue.
You can order newly redesigned T-shirts—this year in blue with a white graphic—from US Logo for just $7 each (add $2 for XXL; $3 for XXXL) plus shipping. You can order as few or as many shirts as you would like. For orders of 12 or more shirts, drop zones can add their logos to the sleeves at $1.75 more per shirt. Many drop zones order the shirts in bulk as gifts for their local jumpers. US Logo must receive your order no later than February 12 for events held on March 14 or at least three weeks in advance of your alternate event date. Contact Evan Nichols at evan@uslogo.net or call (316) 264-1321 to place your order.
Get Recognition
A list of all participating drop zones, photos of the Ches Judy Award recipients, a report on any new or innovative ideas and a selection of the day’s best snapshots will appear in the May issue of Parachutist. Drop zones must submit reports and photos by March 24 to be considered for print publication. Submissions should be made via the form found at uspa.org/safetyday.