Safety Town Graduation Speech July 17, 2008 Presented by Barbara Ciambra Good morning and welcome to our Safety Town 2008 graduation. Having had the opportunity to oversee the Safety Town Program has been a distinct privilege, and a great deal of fun. Safety Town is truly a special program. It is collaboratively sponsored by the BOE and the Mothers’ and Fathers’ Club of Oakland, as well as the Oakland PBA and the Municipal Alliance. The program has always epitomized the adage, Children First. The program promotes kindness. It brings together our youngest pre- kindergartners from all over Oakland for the purpose of learning about the principles of safety so that they might get a jump start on how to best take care of themselves. It also affords the children the opportunity to meet one another and make new friends before entering our district kindergartens in the Fall. The children have been very excited about participating in the program and have been an absolute joy to interact with. The most wonderful part of working with such young children is the unequivocal excitement that they exhibit for just about everything that you present to them. Safety Town has been in operation in Oakland since 1985. In 2001, at the request of our superintendent, Dr. Heflich, we revisited the program to determine if the course content was meeting the needs of our Safety Towners. We decided to add several new pieces to the Safety Town Program toSafety Town Graduation Speech/08 page 2 bring it forward into the 21st century. The new program components include: anger management, peer relationships and how to deal assertively with bullying, and playground safety. Over the past seven summers, through The Bergen County Department of Health Services, we have been able to bring the “Harry and Sally Dental Health Puppet Show” to Safety Town as an additional component. Three years ago, we added a component on nutrition that is always presented by a certified nutritionist from Abma’s Farm. Last year, we incorporated story time to foster our daily theme. I know that the children enjoyed these additions and hope that you, as their primary educators and role models, will continue to reinforce all that was learned here, during the past eight days. At this time I would like to recognize the people in addition to you who have come out to celebrate this special occasion. Our very own Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Richard Heflich, whose support of this type of child centered, caring program makes Oakland the outstanding district that it has become. Thanks to Dr. Heflich’s foresight we are able to have the services of a nurse, Michele Wall, to minister to the little ones in case of any mishap.Safety Town Graduation Speech/08 page 3 Many thanks to Mr. Al Mr. Alvarado, and our Heights custodians for all of their attention to the needs of our little people and to the needs of our Safety Town Leaders and Village Managers. Also, special thanks to Jeanne Medaska whose attention to detail is remarkable and who is an invaluable asset to our district. These special people are vital to the success of the program. We have been very fortunate to have acquired the talents of two of the consummate professionals in our district who serve as the Safety Town Coordinators. I would like to re- introduce to you Melissa Moscato and Jamie Kuhn. Programs such as this one do not happen over night. Both Melissa and Jamie worked diligently to make sure that the children would maximize their time here. Also, Melissa and Jamie oversee, care for, and nurture the young adults who take on the responsibility for guiding the children through Safety Town. I thank them for a job done with care, leadership, enthusiasm, and a passion for the facilitation of learning. Also interacting with the children is Officer Mark Piercy, Oakland’s juvenile officer, who we would like to publicly commend for all of the time, effort, and energy that he expended to make Safety Town, 2008 a success.