When
your department wants to reach out to youngsters concerning fire and burn
prevention messages, do you partner with local schools or merely ask for a
small time slot?
Each
year fire departments across the nation reach out to local schools for an
opportunity to accomplish some of their public education goals. Often this effort
involves visits by shift personnel and equipment, or school classroom visits by
firefighters with messages on fire safety.
“Stop,
Drop and Roll” is an old standby and along with other common and equally
important and valuable messages, bur often are offered through a slot of time
opened up by the school. Though
important, these visits are sometimes even an interruption of previously
planned curriculum and schedules already strained by days missed due to weather
or other unforeseen scheduling challenges. Once you leave the school, sometimes
the message goes with you.
Many
years ago, assigned the responsibility of public education in my department, I
was tasked with scheduling some of these visits to schools. Instead of merely
looking for potential openings or educators willing to adjust schedules to “fit
us in”, I chose to meet with the curriculum committee first. At that first meeting,
I explained our messaging priorities – specifically for grades K through 3rd -- and asked them as professional educators
what would be the best ways to share these messages with their students. The
response was both enthusiastic and impressive.
Partnering
with those actually planning the curriculum for the following year resulted in
not only in more time with students than I had expected, but several teachers
had taken the NFPA recommended public education themes and suggestions and
built fun and hands on lesson plans and projects that each grade could embrace
and absorb. Fire Prevention Week in October became much more than a week of
school fire drills and school kids outside the school ringing the bell on a
fire engine.
Plan
your annual fire and burn prevention education priorities a year ahead of time,
and with the help and advice of your local educators. NFPA continues to provide excellent resources
and Safety Information for Public Educators along with an outstanding overview
of the Impact of Safety Messages on Children. The latter offers both a detailed
report and a shorter executive summary in PDF form.
Be
a partner in fire and burn prevention education, instead of just an occasional
commercial.