Melvindale Safety Town participants visit the golden arches while Melvindale Safety Town leader Mary DePalma (left) guides them through the drive-through lane during the July 17 class session.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Safety Town, a two-week course designed to teach young children how to make safe choices, provides a lifesaving learning opportunity in a unique area nestled behind the city’s fire station.
Safety Town leader Mary DePalma of Lincoln Park, who teaches in the Melvindale/Northern Allen Park school district during the school year, said students meet from noon to 2 p.m. July 17 to 21 and July 24 to 28 in the fire safety house classroom and on an outdoor tricycle town course located behind the fire station on Oakwood Boulevard near City Hall.
A $35 program fee helps cover the cost of materials.
With the help of teen volunteers from the Melvindale High School Key Club, DePalma teaches the children basic lessons about traffic safety and crossing the street, poisons and stranger danger, escaping a house fire and common-sense rules about animal and playground safety.
Most of the participants are either 4 or 5 years old, although some are older.
DePalma said she has been imparting Safety Town’s lessons to children for at least 25 years, teaching them how to be safe in different situations.
Melvindale Safety Town leader Mary DePalma (third from left) explains the Safety Town rules and layout to children during the July 17 class session.
The lessons include what to do if they are in a house fire and how to go to a safe spot, and to walk away and tell an adult if they see a gun, matches, lighter or medication.
“It talks about what to do if there is an electrical storm, and that water and electricity don’t mix,” she said. “All the different topics get kids and parents talking about safety and it helps them learn how to be safe.”
DePalma said she knew of a child who once put a metal bowl in a microwave with serious consequences.
“You just don’t want something terrible to happen because of misinformation,” she said. “You just want them to learn to be safe.”
DePalma said they cover two topics each day for the duration of the program.
She said parents sometimes share with her the impact of the lessons, including how children begin to wear their seat belts or how they talk to their parents about establishing a family “safe spot” to meet outside of their home in case of an emergency.
Melvindale High School Key Club volunteers help Safety Town participants find a Big Wheel or tricycle best suited to their height to ride on the Safety Town course during the July 17 class session.
“They do go home and talk about it, and they sing the songs that we learn, so that’s fun, too,” DePalma said.
She said she hopes the children leave the class with a heightened sense of awareness and know that there are things that they can do to be safe.
DePalma said it is also important for children to know that they can go to a trusted adult for help.
She said role-playing in a safe and fun environment help children learn important lessons.
“We are singing about it and coloring about it,” she said. “They all have stories to share and they are all very interested in it.”
DePalma said she would love to see the community become more involved with this important program.
Melvindale High School Key Club president and Safety Town volunteer Izzy Campeau, 17, oversees children pedaling along the Safety Town course during the July 17 class session.
Melvindale High School Key Club president and student volunteer Izzy Campeau, 17, said serving children is an important aspect of the club’s focus.
“I find it very important to start teaching leadership roles and to show them ways of learning and ways of life early on,” she said. “If we start now, they’ll have it later.”
Campeau said she hopes the traffic safety segment makes a strong impression on the children.
“We definitely need some better drivers in the world in general,” she said. “If you start teaching them now, I know sometimes they will correct their parents – like, ‘Mom, you’re not supposed to do this!’”
Melvindale Safety Town has an Amazon wish list of items people may purchase for the program. The group also has a Facebook page as well as a website, melvindalesafetytown.com.
Melvindale Safety Town participants pedal along the course, driving on the correct side of the road and obeying stop signs during the July 17 class session.
