As I've done several times before, last night I judged an essay contest for sixth graders in a neighboring town. Last year my bureau chief did the judging, so I had a "year off." I don't mind doing it, and it's interesting to see where the kids are in their thinking at that age. The folks from the other newspapers didn't show this year, so I had the essays all to myself.
The problem for me this year was the subject of the essay is fire prevention/preparation, having working smoke detectors and a family escape plan. As you regular visitors know, I just lived through my mother being dramatically rescued from her bedroom window as a fire raged in her living room. She spent five days in the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Fortunately she has moved into a nice house for the next six months, paid for by insurance.
Her own house needs a lot of renovations and cleaning up.
So as I sat there reading essays that talked about scenarios like "imagine you are sound asleep and the smoke detector goes off" and listed statistics about house fire fatalities nationwide, I had a flashback.
The essays demonstrated that the children know about the importance of having an escape plan, about not panicking, about meeting their family outside and calling 9-1-1 from a neighbor's house. And that's a good thing.
5 comments:
I am sure it was difficult to read the essays. But I think it is wonderful you were able to partake in the contest.
I bet that was tough for you. It's not enough that the kids know about fire prevention...it's also important for their parents to know about it too. I know that after reading about your mother's experience, I checked the batteries on the smoke detectors:~)
Christy: thanks, I'm glad I did.
Lynn: I'm glad you checked them. It's so important! And remember we're supposed to replace smoke detectors after 10 years.
Casdok: thanks!
Wow what a tough assignment! Glad you shared it.
Peace
We are??? I didn't know that smoke detectors were supposed to be replaced after ten years...says who??? Man...we've lived in this house nine and 1/2 years....I guess I better start watching the ads for sales on smoke detectors.
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