Junior Auxiliary's Safety Town winds down
BY SARAH RAINES life@starkvilledailynews.com
A small model town spanned the floor of the Starkville Sportsplex gym while the Junior Auxiliary of Starkville wrapped up its two-day safety demonstration on Tuesday.
Safety Town brings first responders and community helpers to one place to speak with kindergarten children about safety in different aspects of life.
Safety Town co-chair Caitlin Rackley said the event has been taking place in Starkville for over 20 years and all schools were invited — public, private and home-based.
"It's to teach kindergarteners and preK students about safety, whether it be with poison or water or animals," Rackley said. "They're just now starting to understand that things can hurt them, so it's a good opportunity to jump on it before they get caught in a situation where they're around these things."
This year, the JA added a new fitness station to Safety Town, allowing children an opportunity to stretch and move around between sitting at the various stations.
Oktibbeha County Humane Society representative Amy Aarhus talked to children about animal safety, demonstrating the proper way to approach a dog — with the back of the hand facing the animal, not the palm — and telling them they should never approach stray animals.
Lifeguards from the Sanderson Center on the Mississippi State University campus taught the children about water safety while swimming, bringing floating devices for their talk.
MSU Extension representatives Lois Connington and Gene Merki taught children where common poisons are in the house and what to do if someone has been poisoned.
There were two tupperware containers at the poison station, one with mothballs and one with candy. Both looked alike. The demonstration was to teach children not to trust their eyes when it came to judging whether something is safe.
"These children are in a high-risk group for poison and because of that, they need to be more aware," Merki said.
The Starkville Fire Department demonstrated fire safety to the children and quizzed them on their knowledge of what to do in the event of a fire.
"We go through exits in the home, finding a meeting place outside, when you're supposed to call 9-1-1, safety things like never go back inside a burning building and stop, drop and roll," Fire Marshal Mark McCurdy said.
SFD firefighter Josh Cox explained how his equipment helped him while he suited up into his firefighting gear. He gave the children high-fives to show he was still a friend, even in the large yellow suit and helmet.
EMT Keyanka Wilkins let the children explore one of OCH Regional Medical Center's ambulances, showing them what they could expect if they ever had to ride in one.
OCH Public Relations Director Mary Kathryn Kight was at the event representing both the hospital and the JA. She set up a booth to teach children how easy it is to spread germs.
With school back in session and the start of cold and flu season on its way, Kight used the hospital's "Glitterbug" machine, a blacklight the children used to see germs and residue on their hands.
"It's so important for them to learn that germs are on our hands, even though you can't see them," Kight said. "We talk about how long they should wash their hands and when they should wash their hands to keep them from getting sick."
Free helmets were given to the children at the event and Corporal Mandy Wilson with the Starkville Police Department spoke about helmet and bicycle safety with the children.
Children were also sent home with a booklet from the Kinderprints booth. The Modern Woodmen of America provided ink pads and children recorded their fingerprints in a booklet to go home to parents.
"Parents can then fill in more on medical information or dental records," JA representative Sara Fuller said. "If something were to happen to the child, they can hand the booklet over to the police and help find them."
Starkville Academy kindergarten teacher Jamie Hunt has brought her class to the event for the 10 years she has worked at SA.
"We talk about safety and community helpers, but with this they get to see the people, see what we talk about and things like that," Hunt said. "It helps them see it rather than talk about it."
This year was Starkville Academy pre-K teacher Caroleen Eifling's third year bringing her class to Safety Town.
"For the last two weeks in our classroom, we've been discussing community helpers, but this allows us to add that hands-on experience in meeting them up close," Eifling said. "Being able to see the fire truck and see the firemen and hear exactly what they do in person, to me, makes the experience better."
Eifling said the organization of Safety Town makes it easy for teachers, as well. Streets laid out on the floor are designed to lead children from one station to the next.
"The Junior Auxiliary does a really good job in setting it up," Eifling said. "It's a smooth transition and we're thankful they offer it to the community."