October 22, 2018 at 4:42 p.m.
Three Lakes Elementary School students ride fire truck to school
Three Lakes Elementary School students ride fire truck to school
By Kayla Thomason-
Through the program, students in 4K through fifth grade learn about fire safety and prevention culminating with a coloring contest. Each class had its own theme and the curriculum builds off of the previous year's lesson, organizers explained.
"By the time they get to fifth grade they've completely gone through the fire prevention program," said Andy Beach, fire prevention coordinator for the Three Lakes Fire Department.
Beach said he likes seeing the children grinning and enjoying the morning.
"This is an excellent way to engage with the students, it allows them to see the equipment, see the firefighters, start to develop that relationship with them and the community," Beach said, adding that if they happen to be in an emergency situation in the future the children might recognize familiar faces and feel less afraid.
"Fire prevention is an important part of the community and it's an important part of what the fire department does, so often they only see us on emergency calls and this is kind of the best way for fire prevention because the easiest fire to put out is one that never starts," Beach added.
This is the first time three siblings have participated in the program at the same time, as Garrett, Grace and Grant Mandli all made the trip.
Eli Ellis, another of the lucky seven, was "super excited" for both breakfast and the ride on the truck. His mother, Ann Ellis, said her son loves drawing and the contest is a wonderful learning opportunity for kids.
"It's fabulous, Eli loves it," she said. "It's great, he loves to color, loves to draw. It's fabulous, it's great for the community and great for school and awesome that BMO was part of it, too. Thank you to everybody for making such a big deal about fire safety."
Kayla Thomason may be reached at [email protected].
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