St. Mary’s School in German Village graduates 50 kindergarteners from inaugural ‘Safety City’

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)– You’ve likely heard of “Safety Town” programs, mostly done in suburbs to teach kids a variety of safety skills.

But St. Mary’s School in German Village said what about “Safety City” for more specific safety skills for urban areas? This past week, 50 of their kindergarteners graduated from their inaugural program.

“I think my favorite part is watching them with the traffic lights, so they’re on the right side of the road, saying, ‘Hey stop! The lights turning red! Let’s stop, what do we do?'” said St. Mary’s marketing director Hannah Lewis.

In addition to traffic safety, the kids learned about stranger danger, fire safety, bike, school bus, water safety and much more, Lewis said.

Watch: St. Mary’s School holds first Safety City graduation

“We were reading a book about fire safety, and there was a little puppy in it and the kids were like, ‘Wait, he didn’t stop drop and roll!’ So they have already been learning those safety skills and putting them right to work,” she said.

St. Mary’s was able to accomplish Safety City in four days with the help of more than 20 parent volunteers and community partners such as Columbus Public Health and Division of Fire, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“We can actually see the kids learn, which is incredible,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital Project Manager of Infant and Child Wellness Katie Higgins said. “Then they leave every day excited to come back and share little tidbits of what they’re looking forward to and who they’ll meet the next day, so it’s just a really happy experience.”

In addition to all the knowledge they learned and a certificate of completion for their scrapbooks, all the kindergarteners took home new bike helmets.

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