Local Children Learn Valuable Lesson at West Baton Rouge Safety Town

Louisiana - March 28, 2006

Kindergarten children are learning to drive in Port Allen…but don’t worry, they’re only driving “Big Wheel” tricycles to learn about safety.  Hundreds of area kindergarten students have participated in Safety Town over the past couple weeks in West Baton Rouge Parish.

Safety Town is designed to teach the young students about emergency preparedness, chemical, fire, gun, weather, bicycle and vehicle safety. During bicycle and vehicle safety, the students drive their “big-wheels” around the streets of the miniature Safety Town, which is complete with city buildings, railroad crossings, stop signs, and traffic lights.  They are issued traffic tickets for any violations and awarded a Safety Town driver’s license once they demonstrate good safety practices.  During Safety Town, the students also receive lessons on what to do when the siren sounds for bad weather or a chemical spill.   

Other safety lessons are taught on how to correctly report an emergency by calling “911” on the telephone, fire safety principles like “stop, drop and roll,” flood safety principles taught by puppets donated by the W.B.R. Emergency Response Task Force and general personal safety like not playing with guns and not talking to strangers.  The 350 kindergarten students were also given a bicycle helmet, donated by Dow and the W.B.R. Emergency Response Task Force.

The sponsors of this year’s  Safety Town includes:  Addis Police Department; Addis Volunteer Fire Department; American Gateway Bank; American Red Cross; Aquatic Pools; Bourg’s Drug Store; Brusly Police Department; Camp Fire USA; Cox Communication; The Dow Chemical Company; DSM;  Entergy; Enterprise Products; Erwinville Volunteer Fire Department; ExxonMobile; ExxonMobile Lube Plant; Hubben’s Supermarket; Iberville Bank; ITC; Lobdell Volunteer Fire Department; Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital; Louisiana Nations Guard; McDonald’s; Petrologistics; Placid; Pointe Coupee Electric; Port Allen Fire Department; Port Allen Police Department; Port of Greater Baton Rouge; Rosehill Volunteer Fire Department; Safety Council; Shintech; Shoney’s; Southern Packaging, Inc; State Farm; Louisiana State Police Department; W.B.R. Emergency Response Task Force; W.B.R. Parish Council; W.B.R. Parish Office of Homeland Security/Emergency Preparedness & 911; W.B.R. Parish School Board; W.B.R. Sheriff Office; Westside Galvanizing.

Taking a Spin Around Safety Town Kindergarten students from Port Allen Elementary (l to r): Wyatt Gill, Alyssa Williams, Eric Antoine, and Leilani Hull are ready to take a safe drive around Safety Town. Adults seen assisting with Safety Town are (kneeling, l to r): Ginger Green, Placid Refinery; Lisa Ogden, W.B.R. Homeland Security/911; Sharlot Edwards, W.B.R. Homeland Security/911; Kathryn DiMola, City Year. (Standing, l to r): Seresa Corbin, Campfire USA; Jude Guillory, B P Lubricants; Sue Truxillo Alexius, Dow; Joy Rayne, Rosehill Fire Department; David Corona, W.B.R. Parish School Board.

For Editorial Information:

Gary Cambre
The Dow Chemical Company
(225) 353-8265