"GREENSBORO, NC (June 21, 2016) – By the middle of August, more than 500 five and six-year children will have been taught valuable safety skills in a miniature mock city called “Safety Town”.
“Safety Town” is more than just a community of scaled-down building and roadways. It’s an outdoor classroom for teaching children lessons about strangers, poison and drugs, as well as pedestrian, bicycle, traffic, bus, fire, water, and gun safety.
The program is a partnership between the Greensboro Police Department and the Nat Kiwanis Club that has endured approximately 40 years.
Two hours per day for two weeks, GPD School Resource Officers involve the children in learning valuable safety skills. Five sessions are held each summer. Each session can accommodate 115 children.
“This is a very popular program, and really has a lasting impression on the students,” said Lt. Darrin Davis, Executive Officer for the Operational Support Division. “We often have young teens who graduated from the course coming back to Safety Town to volunteer. Even some adults will tell us that they remember and enjoyed the program.”
The SROs, who normally work with middle and high school students, enjoy the opportunity to teach younger children. “The preschoolers are fun to teach and watch,” said Davis. “They have endless energy and are eager to learn. Even though they wear us out every day, we are glad for the opportunity to teach them very important safety skills that they will use the rest of their lives.”
Sessions 1 and 2 graduate on July 1 at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. Sessions 3 and 4 are being held July 18 -29 with graduation July 29 at 9 a.m. for Session 3 and 1 p.m. for Session 4. Session 5 is August 1-12 with graduation August 12 at 9 a.m. All graduations are held at the Lewis Recreation Center 3110 Forest Lawn Drive."
- A Press Release
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