Scott Teague
The Union-Recorder
Thu, May 15 2008
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Teachers at Creekside Elementary School are preparing their students for the summer when they hop off their school buses and hop on their bicycles.
“We feel like right before summer time kids need to be educated about safety,” kindergarten teacher Debbie Amason said. “We’ve taught them about car safety, and Pilot Club is here to talk about brain safety, and our nurse will talk to them about being safe in the sun.”
Pilot Club member Angela Prosser said she has fun teaching kindergarten and first grade students in Baldwin County Schools.
“We’ve seen more than 600 kindergarten students and 600 first grade students,” Prosser said. “We all do ‘brainminder’ programs, but we only give helmets to our kindergarten students. There are so many people who suffer brain injury because they don’t have helmets.”
All week, teachers are host to local community and even Department of Transportation speakers to talk about the many aspects of safety.
Pilot Club has visited Creekside Elementary for the past five years, bringing with them some furry friends to help them teach students the importance of staying safe.
Prosser donned her puppet’s mask and as Wise Old Owl taught students to wear their helmets when they ride bicycles.
Joshua Miller of Amason’s class said he’s learned a lot about being safe this week.
“We learned about cars and we learned about Beltman and to look both ways before we cross the street,” Joshua said.
Beltman is a safety superhero that teaches children to buckle their seat belts when riding in the car, and he has a fan in Joshua.
“He saves us from making mistakes in the car,” the kindergartner said.
The Pilot Club’s safety puppet show has made an impression on the county’s children.
“It made me feel good, because at the opening of Oconee River Greenway some kids came up and said ‘We remember you,’” Prosser said.
After the puppet show, Joshua played in Amason’s class and remembered what he should do the next time he rides on his rollerblades.
“I’ll wear my helmet,” Joshua said.
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