Fire Prevention Week brings lots of activity for Waterville Elementary

by Sharon Sander-Palmer

The school was abuzz during Fire Prevention Week at Waterville Elementary in early October, and not just because the fire alarm was going off for the fire safety drill. There was the tour of the Waterville Fire Station, the judging of the fire posters and lunch with local fire fighters. And for the Kindergarten class, a much-awaited ride on a fire engine.
“It’s such a fun week,” said Kindergarten teacher Lisa VanderKolk, who spends a great deal of time working with her young students on fire safety including “STOP, DROP & ROLL,” the dangers of playing with matches, and even crawling around the classroom to stay low under smoke.
“We all really make fire safety a big part of our teaching, as it’s so important the children know what to do in an emergency, where their family meeting place is, and not to be afraid of the fire fighters who are there to help,” she said.
Shortly after school started, the fire alarm went off. In a little over two minutes, all 105 students plus staff safely and quickly made their way outside to the playing field meeting point. “That was a good time,” said Laurel Leiran, school custodian.
Afterwards, each grade took its turn visiting the new fire station which is located right next door to the school. Offering their time to show the children the vehicles and equipment were volunteer fire fighters Loren Mitchell, Dennis Nebendahl, Caitlin Troendle and Gunnar Grangaard from the Waterville Fire Department, and Bernie Gruman from the Harpers Ferry Fire Department.
One of the highlights was seeing one of the fire fighters dressed with all their safety gear on, including their air mask, which, says Gruman, “is a great opportunity for the children to see what a fire fighter looks and sounds like when searching a burning building and for the kids not to be afraid.”
Another highlight was a water shooting contest for fifth and sixth graders. Basketballs were set up on buckets outside and the students had to shoot the balls off the buckets using the fire hoses. Said Gruman, “The force of the water coming out is very strong and this shows the kids how difficult it is to accurately control the hose. It is a lot harder than it looks.”

The fire fighters also chose the winners for the annual fire poster contest. This year’s theme was "Fire safety in the kitchen." Those winners included the following:
Kindergarten - Hayden Palmer (1st), Trent Murphy (2nd), Ashley Anaya (3rd)
First Grade - Ethan Gibbs (1st), Ava Hooten (2nd), Reese McCormick (3rd)
Second Grade - Drew Weymiller (1st), Justin Murphy (2nd), Rowan Althof (3rd)
Third Grade - Cassidy Gibbs (1st), Riley Palmer (2nd), Saige Steiber (3rd)
Fourth Grade - Fern Diersen (1st), Jacub Steiber (2nd), Jese Lewey (3rd)
Fifth Grade - Marcus Gibbs (1st), Lainey Erdmann (2nd), Tanner Kiel (3rd)
Sixth Grade - Kaylee Gibbs (1st), Zane Dehli (2nd), Aislinn Goettel (3rd).
Top posters from third through sixth grade students then went to the county level of competition, along with posters from other school districts. Waterville Elementary students also claimed seven of those top 12 places. Winners at that county level of competition included Cassidy Gibbs (3rd place, Third Grade), Marcus Gibbs (1st place, Fifth Grade), Lainey Erdman (2nd place, Fifth Grade), Tanner Kiel (3rd place, Fifth Grade); Zane Dehli (1st place, Sixth Grade), Aislinn Goettel (2nd place, Sixth Grade) and Kaylee Gibbs (3rd place, Sixth Grade).
First place in these grades then go on to the state level of competition, where they are judged again. This year, Waterville Elementary has two state competitors, Marcus Gibbs and Zane Dehli.
But perhaps the most exciting part of the day was when the young Kindergarten students got to ride atop the fire truck down and around the streets of Waterville, and back through the school grounds to the cheers of all the other children. Said VanderKolk, “They were so excited as this is a special treat just for them and something every student knows they get to do in Kindergarten. Every year I have many of my former students wishing they could be back in Kindergarten for the day just so they could ride the fire engine again. It really is the best day ever!”