Operation EDITH!

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to speak to Mrs. Miller's 3rd grade class at Bethel Elementary school about Operation EDITH. EDITH stands for "Exit Drill in the Home". October 3-9 is National Fire Safety Week. The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina created Operation EDITH to coincide with Fire Safety Week. This public safety campaign allows independent agents, like myself, the opportunity to speak to kids about the importance of fire safety.

From the moment I stepped into the classroom the children were attentive and excited. We started out by talking about smoke detectors and what to do when the detector goes off. We played a game where a student was the "smoke detector", another student was asleep in his bed, and two other students were the smoke (or in this case a big blanket). The students learned that when there is smoke in the room you get low on the ground and crawl out. You can imagine what happened next. The "smoke detector" started beeping and the student had to crawl under the smoke to safety. Needless to say, the kids thought this was a lot of fun!

Next we talked about sitting down with their parents and family members and planning and exit strategy in the case of a fire. Many had said they have already done this with their families. What a relief to hear!

Finally, we played one last game. I read them a story called "The Cow that Destroyed Chicago". This was about the Great Chicago Fire that happened on October 8, 1871. (It was a surprise to me that this is the reason we have Fire Safety Week!) I read the short story and asked the students questions at the end. For each one they got right, they won a prize! All of the students received pamphlets, stickers and a coloring book.

This was such a wonderful experience and I'm thankful to Mrs. Miller for letting me talk to her class. This is something our agency will be involved in each year for years to come!