Elementary students from Mansfield-area schools are given the opportunity to learn the basic safety lessons at the 76th annual Mansfield Police Division Safety Town Program held at Brinkerhoff School.
The program offers three separate sessions, each lasting ten days on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
Sessions are divided out by the Mansfield City elementary school where the child will attend in the fall, and they each allow for 75 students. The third session is still available. It will be held July 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26.
Children must be pre-registered in order to attend and all children entering kindergarten in the fall of 2013 are welcome to attend.
Director of the Mansfield Police Division Safety Town Program, Ginger Antrican, stated, “We try to not deny any student; even if the child lives outside of the area, the parent can still enroll the child.”
Antrican also explained, “Safety town students are given a chance to learn things they may not learn at home and are given the opportunity to do certain activities that may not be possible to do at home, such as riding in a school bus, seeing a police car and fire truck close up, and watching safety-themed videos.”
The instructors are high school and college students, with some lessons taught by local police officers and firefighters.
Each session offers a different safety service lesson, from sidewalk safety to seatbelt safety.
“The students love ‘Fire Day,’’ said Antrican. The Mansfield Fire Department and Smokey the Bear visits the school and teaches the students a lesson called, “House of Hazards.”
The graduation ceremony is another aspect of the program that the students enjoy. The Mansfield mayor Tim Theaker will make an appearance at the event, along with the parents and grandparents of the Safety Town students.
As to the lengthy term of 76 years that this program has been active, Antrican stated, “It’s a piece of history in Mansfield.”
For further information on the Safety Town program, contact Ginger Antrican, Safety Town Director, at 419-755-9428 between 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
