Pre-K Learns About Community Helpers Through Visit to Downtown Fire Station
ROME, GA— Not many things are cooler than watching a firefighter slide down a fire pole when you’re four and five years old. Add in a chance to sit in a fire truck and your very own fire helmet to take home and it just might be the best day of your life.
This sentiment was certainly visible in the expressions of the little Pre-K Wolves of West End Elementary when they visited the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department in downtown Rome the morning of Sept. 20, 2022.
Fire Safety Educator Linda Patty, along with the help of Firefighter Colby Trotter, Sargent G.W. Hortman, Captain Michael Davis and Corporal Michael Kaiser, provided an engaging and interactive lesson on fire safety including what to do if they find themselves in a smoke-filled room: “Get low and go!”
Patty said she aims to teach children early on how they can prevent fires and what they should do in the event of a fire. She pointed out that children often share this information with their families who may not hear it elsewhere. Additionally, she and her cohorts want to make sure children and youth understand that firefighters are helpers even though they may look strange or even scary to some children when they are dressed in full gear. For this reason, visiting school groups get a demonstration of a firefighter putting on every piece of the protective clothing and equipment they would wear when fighting fire and an explanation of how it protects its wearer.
Teacher Heather Melillo said this was an exciting opportunity for students to get a closer look at a civil servant, as they have been focusing on different kinds of community helpers and how they keep citizens safe.
Patty added that the firefighters really enjoy when children visit the firehouse for a field trip. “They are here from 7:00 a.m. one day until 7:00 a.m. the next day,” she said. “They sit here and wait for something bad to happen all day, so when they get to do something like this, it’s good for everyone involved.”
If the wide eyes and smiles of the kids and the chuckles and grins of the firefighters were any indication, it’s safe to say Patty is exactly right.