Local Children Learn the Importance of Safety at Iberville “Safety Town”

Louisiana - April 19, 2006

Kindergarten children in Iberville Parish, with the help of Dow volunteers, are learning the importance of safety in their community.  Hundreds of area kindergarten students have participated in Safety Town over the past couple weeks in Iberville 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 and general personal safety like not playing with guns and not talking to strangers.

The sponsors of this year’s Safety Town includes Air Liquide; Air Products; American Red Cross; American Society of Safety Engineers; Brenntag; Calpine; Campfire USA; Ciba Specialty; Cora Texas; Dow; DynMcDermott; Entergy; Georgia Gulf; Harcos Chemicals; Iberville Parish OEP/E-911; Iberville Sheriff’s Office; Iberville Parish School Board; INEOS; INEOS Fluor; LBC Baton Rouge; McDonalds; PCS Nitrogen; Pioneer; Plaquemine Fire Department; Reagent Chemical; Shintech; Syngenta; Total; Williams; Youth Challenge Program.

Taking a Spin Around Safety Town Kindergarten students from Iberville Parish (l to r): Korey Nelson, Kenneth Bracken, Vonte’ Jah Dupuy, and Destanee Atwood are ready to take a safe drive around Safety Town. Adults seen assisting with Safety Town are (kneeling, l to r):Mackie Guillot, Plaquemine Fire Department; Laurie Doiron, Iberville OEP/E-911; Seresa Corbin, Campfire USA, Kyle Rovira, Syngenta. (Standing, l to r): Johnny Blanchard, Iberville Sheriff’s Office; Sue Truxillo Alexius, Dow; John Bueche, Iberville School Board.

For Editorial Information:

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