WORDS: Shannon Evans
PHOTOS: Katelyn Disbro
The four-year-olds at Toad Hall Children’s Center have plenty to say about fire safety. They talk about the smoke alarms in their homes and how fast they’re able to crawl beneath smoke. But they also have questions, particularly about the silent, furry visitor standing at the front of their classroom.
“Can he bark?”
The visitor is Marshall, a life-size fire dog mascot for West Manatee Fire Rescue. The students greet him with excitement and, in some cases, skepticism, but he adds a spot of fun to the serious lessons of Officer Friendly’s Safety Summer.
The Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County (ELC) runs the program, which brings local first responders into VPK and school-aged summer programs to teach kids basic safety skills. This summer, four sites took part: Bible Baptist Church Preschool with Palmetto Police Department, Children’s Nest 2 with North River Fire Rescue, Tree of Life Preschool with the Bradenton Police Department, and Toad Hall Children’s Center with West Manatee Fire Rescue. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has also been a valued partner in previous years.
Each site receives three sessions. The first session uses Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann to teach kids about following safety rules and listening to their teachers. The officers also stress the importance of wearing a seatbelt every time they ride in a car, and they encourage kids to remind the adult driving if someone forgets to help them buckle up.
The second session focuses on water safety through A Treasure at Sea for Dragon and Me by Jean E. Pendziwol and Martine Gourbault. Kids learn to ask an adult before swimming and always swim with a buddy. They also learn to enter the water feet first, check the area for hazards, and never swim beyond the buoys.
For the final session, all officers and firefighters use Plan and Prepare! Fire Safety by Charles Ghigna to teach the kids how to respond to a fire.
At Toad Hall Children’s Center, Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski and Fire Commissioner Derrick Warner of West Manatee Fire Rescue joined Marshall the Mascot for the class’s third session, all about fire safety. Commissioner Warner, whose father was also a firefighter, read the book to the class. As he moved through the story, the kids talked about what they would do if a fire started in their homes.
“Climb out!”
“No, run out!”
They were right, of course, but the firefighters helped the kids think through the specific steps. First, have an escape plan before an emergency happens. Every family should know two possible ways to leave the house (if a door is blocked, would a window work?) and choose a safe place where everyone will meet outside. Always leave right away—don’t stop to grab toys! And while making a plan is important, families need to practice it so everyone knows what to do.
“I think about exits wherever I go,” Commissioner Warner told the kids, “even at the movie theater or when I’m in a crowded restaurant.” Knowing how to leave an unfamiliar place can help people respond more calmly if something goes wrong.
Learning the safety rules is one part of the experience, but getting to know the people who teach them matters, too.
“This program gives children the opportunity to interact with local first responders in a positive and meaningful way,” said Colleen Hartnett, Community Education Initiatives Coordinator for the ELC. “We want them to see police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and firefighters as caring, approachable professionals who are ready to help and keep us safe.”
The agencies chose their own ways to make the lessons memorable. North River Fire Rescue brought a fire engine to Children’s Nest 2, where the kids walked through the back cab and learned about the equipment stored around the truck. At Bible Baptist Church Preschool, the Palmetto Police Department gave the kids a close look at a police cruiser, including its lights and the equipment officers use. During the fire-safety sessions, firefighters demonstrated how to crawl beneath smoke and use the back of the hand to test a closed door for heat.
At the end of each visit, the kids can often take home the book they read, along with a family guide. Teachers also get materials to keep the lessons going in the classroom. The kids can make police and firefighter hats, decorate a life vest, create a water-safety booklet, and find the hidden items in a fire-safety “I-Spy” picture.
At the end of Toad Hall Children’s Center’s session, the kids hugged Marshall the Mascot and posed for pictures. Whether he could bark remained unclear, but the class had a better idea of how to stay safe during a fire.
Although the hope is that no child ever has to face an emergency, Officer Friendly’s Safety Summer helps them feel more prepared for the unexpected and more confident about turning to first responders for help.
To learn more about the program, contact communityengagement@elc-manatee.org.
