Students at Mother St. Bride School learn safety first

A member of the North Bay Police Service speaks with Mother St. Bride students about drugs during Tuesday's Safety Fair.

The Connecting Community Partners in Injury Prevention group gathered with their community partners at Mother St. Bride School today for the first of three School Safety Fair events.

Jeff Griffith from the Ministry of Transportation spoke to students about bus safety, Janet Humble with the Health Unit talked to students about the importance of helmets, and Yvon Montcalm with the City Police spoke about a number of safety issues, while the OPP Canine Unit gave a demonstration.

The aim of the project is to instill the importance of playing safe as well as having the students continue to advocate for injury prevention in their daily activities.

Principal Sue Jennings says the St. Bride’s community was very happy to get on board with the project and added that having the pros in to speak with the kids just reinforces the message they hear at school and at home.

“The kids are getting the message everyday from parents and folks from home, they’re certainly getting the message from us everyday, but I think when we have community partners that we had here today that are given the bigger message,” she explains.

“Like Mrs. Humble with her melon drop for example, that’s just something the children won’t forget. And when we had the canine dog unit here as well, that’s something the kids aren’t going to forget, so clearly I think community partners are essential to bringing the message and receiving the message.”

The students continued their work around safety this afternoon, as they displayed their individual research projects, Science Fair style, in the classrooms.

Our Lady of Fatima on Marshall Avenue will host their event Tuesday February 20th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., with St. Hubert's on Lorne Avenue hosting their Safety Fair on Friday February 23rd from 9:30 a.m. 12-noon.