Newtown Youth & Family Services (NYFS) held its Safety Town program this summer, and students learned many important lessons from local experts at the program.

Safety Town is a one-week interactive safety education program, according to an announcement from NYFS, that was developed to teach life-saving lessons about topics like strangers, traffic, fire, pedestrian, poison, drug, playground, bus, and water safety.

“All safety topics are taught in collaboration with local community and health agencies. Safety Town is for kids entering kindergarten and first grade in Fall 2022. Safety Town combines classroom instruction and the use of a miniature town designed to provide a complete hands-on experience,” a description reads. “The miniature town has a fire house, police station, and library, and even features the historic Newtown flag pole. Within this town, there are working traffic lights, crosswalks, bicycle lanes, and signs that create an environment for children to practice what they have learned through constructive play. Each day features a visit from a local community or health agency, including one of the local fire & rescue departments, the Newtown Police Department, Porco’s Karate Academy, Newtown Ambulance, and All-Star Transportation bus company.”

The program was offered in three sessions this summer. The first ran July 11-15, the second ran July 18-22, and the third ran July 25-29. The program was designed for students entering kindergarten in the fall.

On the final day of the program, July 29, Newtown Ambulance EMTs Ferdous Shaker and Diane Salvo visited NYFS to offer a presentation for the students. As they were demonstrating how a stretcher works, Shaker explained the device helps “so we can get them inside the ambulance and go to the hospital.”

The different parts of the stretcher were pointed out, and students were asked to guess what an oxygen tank, secured to the stretcher, is used for.

“If people can’t breathe, the oxygen will give them their air,” said one student.

After learning about the stretcher, the students had the chance to sit in the stretcher themselves and enter the ambulance for a better look at the vehicle used by Newtown Ambulance.

NYFS is a youth service bureau and mental health clinic for children, teens, adults, and seniors. More information about NYFS is available online at newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org.

Education Editor Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.