MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Montgomery County — A child-sized village is up and running at a Miami Township elementary school.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, students are on summer break, but some are still taking the time to learn.
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The Miami Township Police Department is hosting its first Safety Town program at Jane Chance Elementary this summer.
The program is a five-day crash course on pedestrian safety, fire safety, gun safety, bus safety, stranger danger and more.
“We’re talking traffic safety, bicycle safety, general safety around the house. How to call for help should you need to get a hold of police and fire,” Miami Township Police Chief Adam Nielsen said.
Students at Safety Town told News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher that they’re excited for a week’s worth of courses.
School doesn’t start for about a month for Madyson.
“Soon I’m going to have school, first grade,” she said.
But she’s ready to spend the week at Safety Town.
“That’s because I get to see all the police,” Madyson said.
Classes started on Monday with bus and pedestrian safety.
“Watch out for cars and be, be safe when we’re walking across the road,” Madyson said.
Nielsen said they had to add an extra week due to all of the signups.
“It’s sort of the early and often kind of approach that we just want to make sure that we’ve got the principles of safety down,” Nielsen said.
He added that programs like this are so important for his department because they establish strong connections with the youth in their community.
“We want to be out. We want to get out of our cars. We want to stop and talk to them face to face,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said he hopes the children who participate in Safety Town know “that the police are there to help and that the police are there to keep them safe.”
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