Kathy Thornton
Community Newspapers, Inc.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office hosted its annual Sheriff’s Safe Kids Academy on Saturday at the NCSO Training Facility, offering local families a hands-on, educational experience focused on empowering children with critical safety knowledge. Nineteen of the 25 registered youths participated.
The event featured a packed schedule of activities and demonstrations covering everything from personal safety to emergency preparedness. Children rotated through a series of engaging sessions including anti-bullying education presented by Micah’s Place, fire safety with Nassau County Fire Rescue, and stranger safety — teaching kids what a stranger is, how to recognize safe adults and what to do if they ever feel unsafe.
Michael McCormick from poison control gave an informative presentation where he taught kids to identify everyday items that can be harmful. He showed what a venomous snake looks like and helped the children memorize the poison control phone number by using a catchy jingle.
The excitement continued outside, where children explored emergency vehicles firsthand. They stepped inside an ambulance, toured a firetruck and had the chance to spray the hoses. Deputies Beth Smith, Dale Allen and Jeremy Albrecht introduced their K-9 partners, and Deputy Dale Allen gave kids the thrill of sitting on his law enforcement motorcycle.
Meanwhile, Deputy B. Fitzpatrick’s Camaro was a popular photo spot. Deputies Ken Clements and Wesley Padgett were on-site showcasing their sheriff’s office airboat and answering questions about how it’s used in local rescues.
Children also practiced dialing 911, learned how to talk to dispatchers in an emergency, and wrote down their phone number, name and address as part of the 911 safety station rotation.
Sheriff Bill Leeper explained how the Safe Kids Academy was born shortly after he took office.
“Right after I got elected sheriff and took office in 2013, we were already teaching the D.A.R.E. program in elementary and middle schools,” Leeper said. “But we realized we didn’t have anything in place for the younger kids. So, I spoke with Deputy McCumber and her supervisor, and she developed this program for 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds to teach them how to keep themselves safe.
“We incorporated agencies like poison control, the fire department, and others to help share important safety information. We used to host it twice each summer — once on the west side at West Nassau High School and once at Wildlight. This year, we decided to hold just one session here at our new training center and limit it to 25 kids.”
Keeping the children’s attention isn’t easy, Leeper said, so a variety of activities were added. “Aside from the fun, the main purpose is to interact with kids on a positive level, build trust with law enforcement and public safety, and make sure they know who they can go to for help. It also gives them safety knowledge they can carry with them as they grow.”
Kaylyn Roger, a local parent, said “As a mom to a kindergartener, this is something that we’ve started to touch on — safety information — but there’s not really a lot of resources. So, I was looking for YouTube videos and different things to introduce some of these topics in a not-scary and age appropriate fashion — an age-appropriate fashion, I should say — and then I saw this popped up on Facebook. It was perfect, exactly what I’ve been trying to talk to him about.”
Deputy Lisa McCumber coordinated the event and handed out certificates and safety bags to all participating children.