Third graders at Burch Elementary School on Oct. 29 topped off the three days of fire safety training by Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services (FES) staff with a puppet and clown show designed to bolster the things they learned about fire safety and awareness.
Sponsored FES staff, Deputy Fire Chief Tom Bartlett served as master of ceremonies and ringleader of the troupe of clowns and puppets (who had a three-tier stage), all FES employees, who used songs and skits to bring awareness to the third graders who filled the media center and came ready for non-stop action.
The first two days of the event were held in classrooms. But the third day, with clowns, puppets and straight-man Tom Bartlett, was the icing on the cake.
The nearly one-hour show provided a number of topics introduced by Bartlett followed by comments and songs by the puppets that pertained to the topic and then a skit by highly animated FES clowns, Winky, Biscuit and 1AB. Arriving toward the end of the show and making an entrance to a practically giddy audience of youngsters was “Sparky” the colossal fire dog, who joined the clowns for more songs and antics designed to bolster safety awareness.
A sampling of the topics included “Stop, Drop and Roll,” “911 calls – what to do, what to say,” “exit drills in the home” and “never play with matches.”
“If you find a lighter give it to a responsible adult,” Bartlett said to the group of kids as the introduction to the “never play with matches” skit.
“Don’t give it to a clown,” one of the students yelled in response.
The students capped off the event with a visit to a fire truck waiting outside the school.
And while not all were part of the actual show, it was noteworthy that many of the other FES and 911 staff, school staff and Fayette County Commissioner Charles Rousseau were adorned in a variety of colorful “accessories” that blended perfectly into the presentation.
The fire safety training program was also held during October at North Fayette, Inman, Minter and Peeples elementary schools.
