Win a Ride To School on A Fire Truck

with the

Bedford Fire Department

Once again, the Bedford Fire Department is conducting a contest they hope will get local families talking (and drawing) about fire safety in the home. From October 10-30th, children who go to school in Bedford are invited to enter the contest. One winner from each of the elementary schools and one local preschool will be selected to win the amazing prize of a RIDE TO SCHOOL IN A FIRE TRUCK. We work with the parents, schools and teachers to select a time that works best. The winner is picked up at home in a real fire truck and then brought to school. Usually, the winning child’s class is waiting outside and upon this very exciting arrival, we take some photos with the group.

All that it needed to enter is to complete the entry form (or a separate piece of paper) and include: Child’s name, Age, Grade, Home Address, Parent/Guardian name and email address and the school to which the child attends. (Vitally important to have all of that information accurate and legible) Then complete the following requirements for your drawing:

DRAW:

• An aerial view of the layout of your home
• A line showing two ways out
• The location of all smoke detectors
• The family meeting place. (This is the place where you and your family will meet if you have a fire in your home. It might be a mailbox, rock, tree, fence, street corner or a neighbor’s driveway. It should be in the front of the house so when the fire department arrives, we can be sure that everyone is out of the home safely.)

This is a fun way to motivate families to reinforce the importance of practicing escape routes from the home as well as review their family meeting place.

Some helpful hints:

• One past winner drew the landscape rock pattern that was around the base of the tree that was their designated meeting place. This was a clear indication that the family had actually walked out to the meeting place to review it for her drawing. This helps to reinforce the meeting place concept so it becomes instinctive in a child if there is an emergency.
• Another past winner drew all smoke detectors in the home and made a little note that one detector did not work when they tested it thus they replace it. Obviously, this family used this contest to build on their safe home habits of checking smoke alarms.
• Though we love to see entries that are clear collaborations of adults and children, it is important that the child is getting the benefit of learning or reinforcing this information. We have many entries that are great but they have the skill and detail of a product created solely by an adult. So remember…. Perfect drawings don’t often win. Child generated work with adult collaboration are usually the winning combination.

So good luck Bedford kids. Get your entry into the contest box located in the permit room at the Bedford Fire Department by 8pm on Monday, October 29th.

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