43
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The children participating in the Safety Village program at Boardman Glenwood Middle School on Aug. 11 pretended they were driving cars in a city they put together and practiced safety precautions.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Sgt. Charles Hillman showed the children at the Safety Village program at Glenwood Middle School on Aug. 11 how the lights and sirens looked and sounded.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children at the Safety Village program at Glenwood Middle School on Aug. 11 had the opportunity to explore the inside of a Boardman police car.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.There was a life-size game of checkers the children at Safety Village at Glenwood Middle School played as a break from the other activites on Aug. 11.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The Boardman Fire Department taugh the children at the Safety Village Program at Glenwood Middle School on Aug. 11 how to exit from a window and down the ladder in case of a house fire.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Just under 140 children attended the Safety Village program at Boardman Glenwood Middle School on Aug. 11 to practice and learn safety procedures before they start kindergarten.
The Boardman PTA worked with the United Way and other Boardman board members to get the Safety Village program back after skipping a year in 2015. Safety Village, part of the Success by 6 program by the United Way, helps children entering kindergarten become used to the idea of being at school.
“Mr. Lazzeri was adamant that we get this going again,” said Tanna Sebrell, PTA council member and event coordinator.
The children were divided up into groups of 15-20 children and each school had two groups. The groups would work in rotation and visit each of the four main stations including two fire safety stations, a police safety station and a bus safety station.
Sgt. Charles Hillman of the Boardman Police Department, several Boardman firemen and Tom Davies, director of transportation, led the different stations and taught the children the importance of safety at each station. The students learn everything the police, fire and transportation department think the students should know as they enter their first year of school.
“We thought it was really important to let them get to know a couple of the teachers’ faces and kind of make a friend with somebody so the first day of school, they know someone,” said Sebrell.
The collaboration of the PTA, school administration, United Way and more than 40 volunteers demonstrated how the community wants to make sure the children are prepared. The volunteers took time out of their schedules to come to Safety Village to bring important safety knowledge to the students.
“I think it’ll be bigger next year because it’ll be at the end of Success by 6 again. All of the Success by 6 kids are automatically enrolled in Safety Village and in addition it’s open to any incoming kindergarten student from Boardman schools and St. Charles,” said Sebrell.