Kindergarten Students Demonstrate 'All the Right Moves'

A collaborative program between the , and is getting recognition for its education about fire safety to kindergarten students.

The schools and department’s pilot program All the Right Moves program will be recognized Tuesday by the Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin Coalition for its role in educating kindergarten students about fire safety and how to prepare their families for an emergency.

“We do a lot of public education in the schools,” Sussex paramedic Jodi Wiesneski said. “So we were asked to work on a pilot program at one of our schools, but we figured why not both of our schools and they thought it was a great idea so we rolled with it.”

The program had kindergarten students take a test about what they knew about fire safety and what to do in case of a fire implemented by Woodside and Maple Avenue teachers. After the test fire department personnel then came into the classrooms of the schools and gave demonstrations about fire safety.

After the demonstrations, the students then were put in a mock fire situation where they had to implement safety tips given by firefighters, such as checking door knobs for heat.

Six weeks later they were given another test to see how much of the information was retained. 

“There was definitely retention,” Wiesneski said. “We compared the pretest with the post test six weeks later and we saw definite improvements.”

After the program took place, Wiesneski said firefighters also asked the kindergarten students to ask their families to develop a fire escape plan and do an inspection of their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If they didn’t have the alarms or they didn’t work, she said the department supplied the family with new ones.

Woodside Principal James Edmond said the school was happy to try out the program because it presented a fantastic academic learning opportunity for students to protect themselves and their families if they ever end up in a fire situation.

“I think the idea of addressing students in an active learning environment shows they have a great idea of how to address the kids,” he said. “By getting the kids that practical application with hands on learning it makes a huge difference and it was evident.”

The recognition breakfast will take place at 9 a.m. April  19, at the Children's Health Education Center, 1533 N. Rivercenter Drive, Milwaukee.