Sunday, June 17, 2001
Children learn safety from Officer Friendly
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Officer Friendly maintained control of the motorists traveling one of the highways in Fostoria last week.
He reminded them to look left, right, left at each stop sign. And to watch which way they turn on one-way streets.
These motorists, along with the pedestrians, were traveling the streets of Fostoria's Safety Town in a parking lot next to the high school. The 20-year-old program teaches safety rules to pre-schoolers with the help of a mock town and junior and high school student volunteers or instructors.
When the children arrive, they are fitted with their helmets by their instructors, who are each responsible for four or five of the youngsters. The group is divided into two, and the roles of motorists and pedestrians are switched. The motorists ride tricycles, while the others walk around the "streets'' of Safety Town. They learn how to cross a street safely, with the help of Officer Friendly, Fostoria Police Officer Clayton Moore.
Standing at his post in the middle of "town,'' manning the traffic light, Moore gently reminds the children of what they have learned.
"Oh, oh, it's green,'' the officer said to a child, stopped at the light. "What do you do when it's green?''
"Good job looking left, right, left,'' he said to another.
"Friendly'' said he has been on the job there for at least seven years. "I just enjoy kids,'' he said. "I love interacting with kids. I'm probably the biggest kid out here.''
Safety Town was started and is still supported by the Fostoria Altrusa club. Sue Williams, treasurer of Altrusa and co-chair of the program, said the club saw a community need when the program began.
"It started out being funded with donations from community groups and car dealerships,'' she said. "Then it got where Altrusa was actually running it. Then it developed into something that was too much to handle, so the club hired directors.''
This year's directors are Teresa Schultz, who has been involved for five years, and Karen Jakcsy. The program teaches the youngsters not only traffic safety, but bicycle, fire and safety from strangers.
The town consists of pastel painted wooden buildings, painted streets complete with center lines and painted arrows. Pint-sized stop signs caused small multi-trike pile-ups, as each took his turn to proceed safely down the streets. A traffic light stands high above the street in the middle of the town, built by students at Vanguard Career Center.
"The student volunteers walk them around the town if they are pedestrians,'' Schultz explained. "When they are motorists, they help them stay on the right hand side of the road. They also teach them their address and phone numbers.''
Field trips are taken to the fire station, a park and to the YMCA. Each session last for two hours each morning or afternoon, for two weeks.
"Before we cross the street, what do we do?'' asked one teen of his young charges. "Look both ways,'' a chorus of four voices cried. "Look, there a car comes,'' the teen said to them, pointing as a fast pedaling child passed them. "We have to wait,'' he added. "Now, are there any cars coming?'' he asked. After the children agreed it was safe, the teen gave them the go-ahead to cross at the crosswalk.
"Make sure you look left, right, left before you pull out,'' Jakcsy reminded a young girl. "Other side, buddy,'' she said, guiding a bike to the right said of the road. "Because the sun's pretty bright, I can hardly see,'' a young boy told Officer Friendly at the traffic light.
Five-year-old Madison Thatcher said that she learned "how not to play with fire.''
"Getting the helmets,'' she said, was the best part of Safety Town for her.
Samantha Custer, 4, enjoyed riding the bicycles best. "I learned stop, look, listen,'' she said. "And left, right, left.''
"Watching movies and coloring,'' were 4-year-old Erica Moore's favorite activities at Safety Town. "And riding bikes and everything.''
The program is affiliated with the National Safety Town Center in Cleveland. Each child, when he graduates from the program, will get to keep his bicycle helmet, T-shirt, coloring books and other materials.
"They use them for two weeks, and at graduation they get to bring their helmets home with them,'' Williams said. "We hope that they continue to use them and that parents reinforce that.''