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American Family Children's Hospital Supports 6th Annual Safety Town

Kids at Safety Town, sponsored by American Family Children's HospitalMADISON - Franklin Elementary School has once again transformed itself into Safety Town.
 
The program, a two-week series of events, instruction and demonstrations to instruct pre-kindergarteners in safety and injury prevention, began in Madison six years ago as a pilot with just 36 children. This year, the Safety Town population will swell to more than 200 children over six two-week sessions.
 
Safety Town is a child-sized village created for children who will be entering kindergarten in the fall. The town is set up with streets, sidewalks and houses so children can practice their safety skills daily. Through a variety of interactive programs, children learn about safety in a controlled environment with content experts from across the safety spectrum:
  • Child passenger safety
  • Water safety
  • Fire safety
  • Personal protection
  • Poison prevention

Safe Kids Coalition coordinator Nan Peterson says Safety Town's organizers emphasized the need to tailor the safety events to the children's natural inclinations.

"Children this age really do a lot with story telling and songs and props, so this fits really well together with Safety Town - to have it be interactive and be the things they like to do," she says.

 

Programming is selected based on injury data from the Centers for Disease Control. This year's programming is generously supported by the American Family Children's Hospital.

 

City of Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz opened Safety Town with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to kick off the first session. The program was developed in Madison by the City of Madison Fire Department and SafeKids – Madison Area in cooperation with partners from law enforcement and other health- and safety-related organizations.

 


Date Published: 06/23/2009

News tag(s):  children,  safe kids

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