Healthy & Safe in 2008
A fresh snowfall and a new calendar have a lot in common — both are clean and waiting for your input. Hopefully, you‘re enjoying the 2008 Station Style Calendar that was mailed with FIRE CHIEF‘s December issue. If you haven‘t received one, let me know.
Speaking of calendars, recently I found a really clever one created through a cooperative effort from the Gibraltar, Wis., school district and five Door County volunteer fire departments: Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, Ephraim, Gibraltar and Sister Bay/Liberty Grove.
For the third year, the school district held a poster competition for children in kindergarten through seventh grade. Each poster relates to an aspect of fire prevention or fire-safety education. Winners were selected by age group, and their photo appears on the calendar cover along with Sparky the Fire Dog and fire officials. The competition was so strong that a few months feature two posters and 19 students had drawings included in the 12-month calendar.
According to Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Chief Chris Hecht, local businesses sponsor a page of the calendar, and the remaining costs are covered by each of the fire departments. “We print about 1,500 calendars,” said Hecht. “Each student gets a calendar and the rest are available in the community.”
Hecht said that one of the guidelines was that each poster had to have a message that was quickly understood. Fifth grader Hannah Copiskey‘s poster cautions to “Always have two escapes out of every room and a meeting spot.” Beside each hand-drawn poster is a public-safety message that reminds people to display their fire number clearly outside their home and to designate a safe meeting spot in their escape plans.
This calendar is a clever way to get the kids involved in fire prevention and fire-safety education, but it also serves as an appeal for volunteer firefighters. The inside cover shows dramatic pictures of local fires and asks, “If your neighbor needed help … wouldn‘t you want to do more than just stand there?” It also provides contact information for each of the participating departments for interested volunteers.
I think this approach to fire-safety education for youngsters is really positive on several levels, including making the message more personal and rewarding. If you‘re interested in learning more about the Northern Door County Fire Department 2008 Fire Safety Calendar, e-mail Hecht at checht@newwis.com.
Be healthy and safe in 2008!
January 5th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I enjoyed your article. I also believe that the fire dept. could also gain the backing of some of their government officials as they can see how the fire dept. is trying other methods that cost less to provide fire education and also see how the dept. has the community involved. As for the dept. well this is a good fund raising opportunity that could benefit the dept. and partner them with the school.
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