About 90 Grade 1-9 students at John Davidson School in Coaldale celebrated Safety Day Monday, learning everything from how to handle a lawn mower and their bicycles to the importance of wearing seatbelts and washing their hands properly.
With partners including the Lethbridge Regional Police Service, Alberta Health Services and the Office of Traffic Safety on hand, students spent the morning travelling from centre to centre discussing safety habits.
Principal Janice Loitz said the visit by the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day is part of the school’s year-long effort to reinforce safety messages for students. Identified as a school goal this year, the students have been taking part in weekly poster contests to drive home safety messages, and talking about safety rules in school, on the bus and in the playground
“We have a different safety focus each week,” Loitz said, standing before a display in the hallway where this week’s messages are on being healthy and playing safely on the playground.
Students received a bag of goodies and safety information as well as free T-shirts for their completion of the safety demonstrations, thanks to the efforts of numerous corporate sponsors and community service partners.
To reinforce the safety messages, students are asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the day. A week later, students in Grades 1, 3 and 5 will be asked again about the safety messages they heard to reveal how much information they retained from the event.
As part of the day, Kevin Brandvold from the regional Office of Traffic Safety and Town of Coaldale Peace Officer Bryce Easingwood gave students a look inside a rollover simulator. Mannequins inside were secured with seatbelts for one part of the demo, then unbuckled and rolled again, demonstrating dramatically the dangers of not wearing seatbelts.
John Davidson School is an alternative program in Palliser Regional Schools catering to students from the region’s Low German-speaking Mennonite community. Students there follow the regular Alberta program of studies in English in a school that respects the students’ faith and culture. The school also offers a kindergarten and early learning program.
John Davidson School Safety Day
