by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
Garretson School students are learning about safety, whether it's in the school or outside, and during the first week of October, the Garretson School will be featured during the South Dakota Department of Transportation's Walk to School Day.
"Deputy Aanenson has been going into classrooms to talk about school safety, and [Bus Director] Tim Nelson has been showing students bus safety," said Elementary Principal Katie Hoekman. And on October 4, she said, employees from the DOT will be coming to the school as part of the statewide initiative to encourage safe routes to school.
And during the same week, Garretson High School FFA and Agricultural Structure students taught 4th graders farm and tool safety (see article on page 9).
School safety rests with everyone, from the students to parents and community members, whether it's knowing what to do if a stranger approaches the playground or driving slowly through school zones.
That, plus knowing who to rely on in an emergency and what to expect to report to emergency personnel is important for students to know, said Deputy Jason Aanenson.
Aanenson, who is employed by the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department, has been the Garretson School Resource Officer since 2011. Last week, he visited several classrooms as a way to introduce himself and develop a relationship with the younger elementary students. He said his goal in going into the classrooms is to keep kids safe, and to build that knowledge base of who to rely on and what to do in an emergency.
"For instance, who to report to if there is an emergency, and to see if they have a way to access 911 when they're at home," he said. "Lots of us, myself included, don't have landlines anymore, so we need to make sure they have a way to do that."
He said that family planning goes a long way for children. Knowing what to do, where their exits are, and what might be expected of them if they do make a report to emergency services was not only something he introduced to the students, but if the parents make sure their children know the plan, that helps quite a lot.
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