Key Club members teach kids at Safety Town
September 8, 2016
Hands clap together as they sing along to a song about safety, crowds of 4-6 year olds sport matching Safety Town t-shirts as they gather in the World of Wonder gym. On the sidelines stand Fenton Kiwanis Club members as they supervise and prepare for a week of learning about safety.
“Zonta [an organization that’s goal is to empower women] of Fenton has been sponsoring and running Safety Town for the past 20 years,” Safety Town co-chair and Kiwanis member Cathy Utter said. “They shared with Fenton Kiwanis that they were moving in the direction of human trafficking, which they felt was more consistent with their overall mission. Kiwanis felt Safety Town was a perfect match for us and therefore decided to adopt the Safety Town program.”
The week-long program’s aim is to teach children about safety. With this being the first year that Kiwanis adopted Safety Town, the club’s focus was just that.
“Safety Town’s curriculum consists of all the various aspects of safety that children come in contact with in their homes and communities,” Utter said. “We provide lessons in stranger danger, fire safety, poisons, sun safety and so on.”
Kiwanis members and volunteers highly encourage children to attend.
“I would definitely recommend that little kids participate in Safety Town,” volunteer senior Kortney McQuarters said. “They learn everyday life skills that they would not necessarily learn otherwise, which is especially important as they enter school and become more independent.”
The Safety Town program occurs annually in mid-July, and children who will be going into Kindergarten or Young Fives are eligible to participate. Parents who are interested in enrolling their child or volunteering at next year’s Safety Town should email [email protected] for an application.
