The Benton Fire Department visited the kids elementary school a few weeks ago and taught about fire safety. As part of their program, they told the kids about some contests they would be offering. Third graders were challenged to come draw up a floor plan of their home marking smoke detectors, 2 pathways of exit from each room, and a designated safe meeting space. There would be one winner from all of third grade at Hurricane Creek. Kindergartners were told there would be a coloring contest and a winner from each class. The kids told me about the fire fighters being at their school and about these contests on our way home from school that day. Then didn't really mention it again. We have had a super busy last few weeks with Hudson playing baseball and Lawson having extra rehearsals for her dance recital. So, I kinda forgot about it.
Then the day before Lawson's project was due...she came home telling me that we needed to get it done that night. We had dance and a ball game that night....but we had one hour after school to work on it. So, we got busy. We used clip art from the computer to decorate each room on our floor plan showing where our beds, couch, tables, refrigerator, smoke detectors, etc were located. Then we decided on a safe meeting spot for our family...and I photographed Lawson there and we taped it on our paper. I thought it wasn't too bad for a quick effort. Didn't think we would win though.
Hudson's class colored their pages in the classroom. He was SO determined to win that he spent a REALLY long time on it and had to take it to computer lab with him as he wasn't finished and everyone else was! But, their efforts paid off...because they BOTH won!
Hudson won this cute little fire dog stuffed animal! And Lawson won a private tour and breakfast with the firefighters and then they took her to school in the firetruck with all of third grade waiting on the sidewalk to watch her pull up! Seriously! It was SOME kind of VIP morning for her...and we got to tag along!
We got there at 6:45 am (ouch!) and they Fire Chief gave us a private tour of everything letting the kids touch everything and ask any questions.
These are the little cubby rooms where the fire fighters sleep!
We all got to sit in the fire truck with it running!
The chief told us this truck cost $750,000 when purchased 11 years ago. He said it would cost 1.2 million to replace it now.
They both got to try on the firefighter gear. It knocked Hudson down! Super heavy!
This truck was state of the art in 1930. Isn't it cool?
They got to hold the chiefs fire axe!
Every morning their is a radio check that goes on between all four fire stations in Benton. The kids got to talk on the walkie talkie to confirm they were there and all was working well. The fire fighters would tell them what to say. You could hear their voices all over the fire station too. The voice on the other end said "Good job, kids" when they were done.
Then it was time for breakfast...pancakes, bacon and eggs. We set at their table and ate with them. The fire Marshall asked us if we pray over our food...we said we did...he said they do too....then he prayed over it and asked God to bless our family. Really cool. And he food was delish!
And it was time for Lawson to board the truck and take off. She road by herself with the fire fighters!
She road in the back seat until they got to the drive...then they put her in the front and let her work the horns. (Unfortunately it was raining...but it didn't dampen things too much.)
Their she is! And all her friends were waiting behind me on the sidewalk cheering. (Watch the video below.) It made me cry for some reason...I could see her as they were pulling up just gleaming ear to ear. It was an "Extreme Makeover" kind of rush!
It was so nice of her classmates to show so much excitement over the event. I know they would have liked to have been the one to ride the fire truck. There were all like "How was it? What did they feed you?" Really cute!
Listen to Hudson just squealing as she pulls up! He was really excited for her too! Which is also very nice...because that was a hard event to watch your sibling get to participate in.
Thank you, Benton Fire Department, for a great educational program! And for going to so much trouble and making this an amazing prize!
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