Safety Town, a Crookston Community Education program, was held from June 2-5 at Washington School. The four-day program is open to children who recently completed kindergarten and will move to first grade in the fall. A full class of 41 participants completed the program during their graduation ceremony on Friday.
Highland first-grade teachers Megan Parenteau and Stacy Olson are the Safety Town program coordinators, and they extended their sincerest thanks to the amazing support from over 50 community partners, donors, and volunteers that made this year’s Safety Town Program a success.
“Stacy and I have been coordinating the program now for quite some time, and it’s wonderful to have as many participants as we have, as well as all the guest speakers, and the donations that we received to make the program possible,” said Parenteau. “It really comes together the week of the program and makes all the hard work worth it.”
The program focuses on teaching children basic safety procedures, including pedestrian and traffic safety, playground safety, fire safety, bicycle safety, animal safety, gun safety, and when and how to call 911.
“It’s super important. Stacy and I both work with young children over at Highland School, and it’s really about extending that classroom atmosphere into the community and making sure that we start kids off right with being safe and learning how to be safe,” Parenteau explained. “You just never know when you’re going to be in a situation that might require them to use some of these skills that are necessary for life, and when you need those skills, it’s better to learn them early, and then be refreshed with them year after year, versus never being exposed to them.”
The program provides children with learning sessions from local and state agencies like the Crookston Police Department, Crookston Area Ambulance, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Public Health, BNSF Railway, and MNDOT, who were new partners for Safety Town this year, along with hands-on experiences and opportunities to see emergency vehicles up close. The main feature of the week is On the Town, a small town set up in the gymnasium, where officers and team leaders help students practice crossing roadways and identifying stoplights when operating a vehicle.
The students travel throughout the school in groups led by local high school students, who help Parenteau and Olson by serving as team leaders and working alongside the students during the lessons.
“We do a team training event the week before the program begins, so all of our teens are trained and know what to expect the week of the program,” said Parenteau. “Again, they’re donating their first week of summer to helping out our friends who are joining us at Safety Town this year. So again, we thank them.”
At graduation, students received a certificate of completion and a safety book to help them continue their safety education at home and help their families, friends, and neighbors stay safe in their community.
