East Elementary Kid's Club program focuses on timely theme of "Summer Safety for Kids" during June session


Chris Dahlstrom of the Waukon Fire Department and Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service educated students on rescue efforts. Submitted photo.

Shawn Gordon with the Waukon Fire Department instructed students on how to locate victims in the event of a fire. Submitted photo.

''Summer Safety for Kids" was the theme for the East Elementary Kid's Club programming in Waukon during the month of June. All student activities and professional presentations provided information concerning the community services available for student protection. Presenters also provided the knowledge and strategies students may use to protect and/or defend themselves during the summer months and into the future.

The safety knowledge and strategies were then coordinated with the East Elementary academic curriculum of language arts, math, science/health, social studies and technology-STEAM (S-science, T-technology, E-engineering, A-art and M-math), for third, fourth and fifth grades by Mrs. Eileen Franks, Mr. Tyler O'Neill and Mrs. Pam Dundee.

East Elementary instructors were honored to accept the community assistance in educating the children of this community. The professional programs included factual information and innovative student participation activities. Presenters of the programs included the following (some of which are pictured in the surrounding photos):

Ellie Krousie, Robey Memorial Library Children's Librarian focused on the Safety Topics of Energy, Insects and Relaxation-tension release through her presentations featuring the understanding and use of new energy resources and their sustainability, insects - bug houses, and art - student activities for relaxation that included making a kaleidoscope and the use of professional items to decorate cookies and cupcakes.

Ross Geerdes, Allamakee County Conservation Naturalist focused on the Safety Topics of Outdoor Habitats and Weather with his presentations on the identification of, and safety information for, unsafe insects/plants/animals, and phases of the moon, clouds and wind in relation to weather watching.
Lynn Sorensen, Kitchen Krafts focused on the Safety Topic of Independence and Relaxation-tension release with her activity that involved instruction and use of decorating tools and materials, and techniques in decorating.

Kathy Hay, Area Education Agency Technology Integrationist focused on the Safety Topics of Technology-Coding for Organizational Reasoning/Thinking Skills, and Internet Bullying with her presentations on sequential operation of coding for the program Scratch, RECON 6.0, and Pro-Bot, in addition to laws related to internet bullying.

Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick and staff at the Allamakee County Public Safety Center focused on the Safety Topics of Protection for Town and County Residents. Sheriff Mellick provided a guided tour of the facility with precise information concerning each area of the building, and each staff member showed and explained their positions, in addition to county laws and the 911 system.

Firemen Chris Dahlstrom and Shawn Gordon, Waukon Fire Department focused on the Safety Topics of Home and Building Fire Safety with a 911 review, strategies for personal care during a fire, participation in rescuing a pretend victim and locating a pretend victim within a pretend smoke-filled home, explanation of each fire truck/engine, and participation in operating fire hoses in putting out a pretend fire.

Officer David Burrett, Waukon Police Department focused on the Safety Topics of Being Home Alone. He discussed dealing with strangers and drug dealers, city streets, what to do if attacked and/or being held by an attacker, answering the telephone, and items a police officer wears that will identify him/her as an official officer.

Jessie Emerson, Allamakee County Historical Museum and Genealogy Curator provided a tour of the County Courthouse Museum to assure students that the historical artifacts within the museum depicting their community's past were secure and available for their inspection at any time, now or in the future.
Teralee Jones, Teralee's Salon and Art Studio focused on the Safety Topics of Being Independent and Relaxation -tension release while working with students on designing and creating detailed art with tools available to students.

Green Iowa Americorps staff members stationed in Decorah focused on the Safety Topics of Energy Conservation and Recycling with their presentation on reasons for conservation and recycling, types of materials used in energy production and the make-up of recyclable items/objects.

Andrew Blair, School Resource Contact for the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative focused on the history, creation and conservation of soil, plant identification and planting seeds in the school garden, in addition to safety facts about food preparation and preservation, and creating recipes from available foods.

"It is with great pleasure that the Summer East Elementary Kid's Club students and instructors extend an enormous thank you to these professionally trained men and women who protect and care for us day and night, for their awesome presentations," shared East Elementary Kid's Club leaders. "With this quality of safety available to our community, students can learn, play, work, and enjoy our surroundings in safety."