Now that its over, I can let yall know why Ive been excited for the last 3 weeks about what was going to happen today. About a month ago, I learned that the American Red Cross had been invited to William James Middle School to do a safety presentation. This is something several of us had been hoping to do, and working on, for about a year; getting into the schools to teach personal and home safety. We also were asked to give a description of what we do individually and how we help people who have had a personal disaster. I was asked to help organize and participate in this program since I am from Dickson County, and due to my activities with the ARC in this area. Our Chapter Manager, Larry Crowell, my DAT co-captain Bobby Cathey, and White Bluff Fire Chief Eric Deal also took part and did a terrific job engaging and teaching the kids about home safety and how to avoid, and prepare for, house fires. This morning, we did two presentations at the WJMS for 7th and 8th grades. I started out telling them this was very exciting to me because our first presentations in the County were at the school I attended. Several of the Colonel football players were wearing their jerseys, so I told them I was a former Colonel and played on the last football team the High School had before becoming a Middle School. The kids were absolutely terrific, and participated extremely well! Note to the parents; this age group is extremely aware and has a huge amount of knowledge! They really impressed us how much they know about disasters and especially about the Red Cross! They were very knowledgeable about different types of disasters and were very respectful and listened attentively. The students will be bringing home some Home Safety checklists to go around your homes and checking for fire hazards. I encourage all parents to help their child if they bring home these checklists, work with their child on identifying potential hazards, and also work on prevention. We also talked about how to prepare for a house fire, what to do in case of fire, how to react, and how to survive. This has been one of the most exciting and meaningful days Ive ever had in my volunteer work with the ARC! It was good to go back home to William James for a few hours, and do something that is very dear to me; try to help people avoid, and survive, house fires. The future for all of us is in education to do those very things; preparation, avoidance, and survival. I hope everyone stays safe out there!!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 17:59:40 +0000
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