2017 Safety Town – weeklong safety program for kids entering kindergarten scheduled for mid August

Louie the Lightning Bug at previous year’s Manchester Safety Town. Photo courtesy of Beckie Brewis.

submitted by Beckie Brewis

The week of August 14th, Klager cafeteria will come alive with Manchester’s 2017 Safety Town Program. Safety Town is designed to teach many areas of personal safety to children entering kindergarten in the fall. Students learn traffic and bus safety as well as fire, seat belt, stranger, water, gun, poison, and electrical safety through stories, projects, songs, games, movies, and excursions. A representative of the Injury Prevention Program at Mott Children’s Hospital will talk to the children about car seat safety and will fit each child’s bike helmet to wear when they ride the bikes during the week. If a child does not yet own a helmet or has outgrown theirs, this program makes helmets available for purchase at a low cost. We are also very excited that this organization has enabled us to provide scholarships to five local students again this year.

We also have additional guests from Manchester Fire Department, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department, Manchester Community Schools, and GTE with Louie the Lightning Bug. For a second year, a community volunteer will also talk about being safe around dogs.

The program will run 8:30-11:30 am each day, culminating in a celebration ceremony at the end of the session on Friday where families are invited to hear about the week’s highlights. Safety Town also works in collaboration with Manchester Kids Club Summer Camp to provide a full day of child care that week when needed by parents who work full time. In order to register for this extended program, parents can contact Pam Wiseman at 428-9711 x1012 to register their child for this care option, ensuring appropriate staffing will be in place.

If your child is entering kindergarten this fall and has not yet registered for Safety Town, you can still do so by contacting Pam by phone or via email at pwiseman@mcs.k12.mi.us. The cost of the program is $75 and children must be preregistered to attend.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.