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Making
an Impression
While
parents and family members are constantly telling children to be
careful, sometimes what they need is to observe an event with their own
eyes.
"You
can talk all day to kids," said Frost. "But when they see
something, it stays with them."
This
"show me" philosophy is at the heart of the Safety Day.
Frost
said the students really took notice when the electric safety
demonstration showed them how easily they could be electrocuted.
He
said the big attention-getter of the day had to be the front-end loader
demonstration.
Frost
said they had a dummy lying on the ground with a watermelon as its head.
When the front-end loader came down on the melon, students reacted out
loud.
"That
really got their attention," said Frost. "Many of them said
they didn’t realize how much force was behind the loader."
The
Logistics of the Day
It
may seem like a daunting task to teach 141 students all the things you
want them to know in just a few hours, but there was definitely a
method.
Frost
said the students, who were mostly from Colbert County, were broken up
into small groups. Each group was given a different color bracelet. The
groups then rotated through the stations.
It
took 72 volunteers to make the day successful.
A
group known as the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) served as
tour guides for the day. They escorted the groups of students from
station to station.
Frost
said the small groups really allowed the students to get involved at
each station. They feel more comfortable and ask more questions.
A
safety committee was on-hand to make sure students were in the right
place.
Helen
Keller Hospital served lunch.
Other
Topics Available
In
order for Safety Days to be most effective, local organizers can choose
from a variety of topics and activities.
Some
of the other available activities include chemical safety, firearm
safety, hand tool safety and roadway safety.
By
choosing topics most pertinent to local students, organizers can design
a program tailor-made for a specific community.
Sponsors
In
addition to the on-site help mentioned above, many other local
businesses and agencies assisted with the cost and production of the
day.
Local
sponsors for the Safety Day include the Alabama Cooperative Extension
System, Alabama Farmers Cooperative member stores, Alabama Department of
Transportation, Alabama Health Care, Buffalo Rock, Colbert Soil and
Water Conservation District, First Southern, FSA-Tuscumbia field office,
Helen Keller Hospital, Jim Bishop Toyota, Lauderdale Soil and Water
Conservation District, Liberty National Life Insurance, Long-Lewis,
Muscle Shoals Electric Board, Muscle Shoal Fire Department, North
Alabama Fair Grounds, Northwest RC&D, NRCS-Florence field office,
NRCS-Tuscumbia field office, Pizza Hut, Project Life Saver, Purity,
Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Sheffield Fire Department, Sheffield
Utility Department, Shoals ATV Riders, State Farm-James Hampton,
Tri-Green Tractor Company, Tuscumbia Utility Department and Wal-Mart.
Contact
Information
Persons
interested in more information about the Progressive Agriculture Safety
Day may visit the website at
www.progressiveag.org. The
site contains information on hosting a Safety Day in your area and
information about upcoming Safety Days. |
