Train safety program unveiled to Dean Street students

 

By MIKE NEUMANN
The Independent

 

Print this Page    Email This Article

 

Dean Street Elementary School third-graders were the first to experience the state’s new train safety education program during a presentation by Health World of Barrington Friday.
Health World received grant money through the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Public Education and Enforcement Research Study program. The exhibit is coupled with “Operation Lifesaver,” a nationally recognized program that empowers students to make safe decisions around railroad crossings and tracks.
“We have a very special program today,” Pedro Lara-Oliva, Dean Street Principal, told an excited group of students. “We are the first school to be using this program.”
The hour-and-a-half program included welcomes by Health World staff, a cartoon about train safety, interactive presentations using visual aids and posters and a quiz game set up much like a game show.
Sen. Dick Durbin helped secure funds needed to support programs such as the ones PEERS provides. Members of Durbin’s staff were in attendance to witness the unveiling of the program in Woodstock.
Erin O’Connell-Diaz, a commissioner with the ICC, told the students she was excited to unveil the program in Woodstock, her hometown.
“I live in the community and take the train down (to Chicago) every day,” she told the students. “I see a lot of people and kids doing things (near railroad tracks) that would be in the big no-no column.”
She went on to say that Illinois has more railroad crossings than any state but Texas.
Ilana Brown, the director of Health World’s outreach education, presented the program to students.
“How many of you cross over train tracks every day?” she asked the students. Every hand in the audience was raised. “There are lots and lots of rules, and that’s what this is all about.”
The students then watched an educational cartoon called “The Adventures of Sly Fox and Birdie.”
The cartoon shows Sly Fox wanting to play near the tracks, put objects on the tracks and do other dangerous activities. Birdie teaches Sly Fox, as well as the students, why he should obey the rules.
After the movie, Brown asked students questions about the movie and gave them more information about how dangerous trains can be, how heavy they are in relation to other objects and how long it takes for a train to stop. She also discussed the importance of using all senses when crossing tracks and obeying any gates or signals.
“We’re never in a hurry that much to risk our lives,” she said.
At the end of the presentation, students participated in a game show-type activity in which they had to answer questions by pressing buttons with the corresponding correct answers.
One student, Cooper Smith, said he was happy he answered all of his questions correctly.
“I liked the game and the video,” he said. “I got all my questions right.”
He said that although he already knew some of what was taught, the program reminded him never to play on train tracks.
Classmate Jose Rodriguez said he thought the video was funny, especially when Sly Fox wants to put the penny on the tracks. Rodriguez added that he did not know putting items on the tracks could be so dangerous.
“I’ll never play on the railroad tracks,” he said.
Health World will continue using the program in other third-grade classrooms throughout the state.

 

This article was published in the April 30, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.