Kids learn life-saving response skills with Rocket
He’s a precious wide-eyed red headed cartoon pup dressed in a yellow- safety vest, blue trousers and sneakers and his job is to teach 4- to 9-year- olds emergency preparedness.
His name is Rocket the Safety Dog and he’s the mascot of The Hero In You foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Bunni and Rick Benaron in 2014 to honor firefighters and first responders as well as educate children on what to do in emergency situations including earthquakes, f loods, hurricanes, tornadoes and, most recently, wildfires.
“The reason we’ve done all of our natural disaster and emergency education activity books, videos and other materials is generally children between 4 and 9 are getting fi re, earthquake and lockdown drills at school but what’s lacking is situational awareness education and skills. What’s missing from the drills is what to do if you are not on campus. What do you do if you’re at home or on the soccer field or at a dance or the grocery store?” said Bunni Benaron, a former school teacher.
To create Rocket’s most recent activity book on wildfi re safety, Benaron worked with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Southern California Earthquake Center.
“The impetus to get a wildfi re safety activity book done was the deadly fires we’ve had in California and across the western states the past couple of years,” said Benaron who resides in Malibu and has experienced what it’s like to live through a large fi re.
“Rocket’s Wildfire Safety Activity Book” touches on subjects including what do to keep your home and animals safe; how to prepare a home emergency evacuation plan and supply kit; and things to do to stay calm during the emergency. The activity book also addresses what it’s like to stay in an evacuation shelter.
Benaron’s intent was to get the activity books out to fire departments in 2020 so firefighters could get them in the hands of kids but COVID-19 restrictions left the educational materials sitting in boxes in many fire stations including Cal Fire-Butte County’s facility.
“I drove to Sacramento and brought back 55 boxes. That’s about 8,000 or 9,000 activity books. In normal times we’d be out visiting classrooms or other places and events where there were kids and we could get them distributed. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that soon. I’d like to get them out of the shed and into kids’ hands where they will do some good,” said Rick Carhart, Cal FireButte County public information officer.
Carhart said the books are well done and the lessons they teach are important and well presented for their target audience.
“Rocket is really cute and the book’s lessons are done in a fun, enjoyable, entertaining, non-threatening way. The best way for kids to learn is when they don’t know they’re learning, when they think they are playing and having fun and that’s what Rocket does. He’s just a really good way to reinforce some really good safety lessons,” said Carhart.
Carhart said he’s taken some of the activity books to local fire stations but if there are parents, teachers, day care providers or others who would like copies of “Rocket’s Wildfire Safety Activity Book” they can contact him with their request by emailing him at rick.carhart@fire.ca.gov.
To learn more about other Rocket educational materials including videos visit https://rocketrules.