Safety Day 2018 was held at the Prince of Wales Centre in Assiniboia on March 15. The bi-annual event is a partnership between the Red Coat Ag Society (RCAS), the Saskatchewan Association of Agricultural Societies and Exhibitions (SAASE) and the Prairie South School division (PSSD) to bring students together to help them make safe decisions in their everyday lives.
There were over 230 Grade 7 and 8 students and teachers from Assiniboia, Bengough, Coronach, Glentworth, Gravelbourg, Lafleche, Mankota, Mossbank, Rockglen arrived by bus to attend the day.
Event chair Amy Heatcoat organized the components of the day that were the responsibility of the RCAS to oversee. She lined up the facility and volunteers from local groups and businesses to present at the stations and made sure everyone would be fed. 鈥淭he day is organized chaos from start to finish,鈥� said Heatcoat. 鈥淔rom the moment the students arrive to when they鈥檙e back on the buses heading home, it鈥檚 go, go, go. But, this is the second safety day we鈥檝e hosted now so, this time we knew what to expect and it wasn鈥檛 so intimidating.鈥�
Volunteers and station topics included: Power Safety, sponsored by SaskPower and presented by Jocelyn duck, Chemical Safety presented Harley and Landon from Hutch Ambulance, Online Safety presented by PSSD, Animal Safety presented by Bonnie and Jill from the Animal Hospital of Assiniboia, Fire Safety presented by Chuck Rust from the Assiniboia Volunteer Fire Department, The 19 Challenge presented by PSSD, Fatal Vision presented by Safe Communities, Grain Safety presented by Cole Payant and Brady Heatcoat, ATV Safety presented by Casey Topola from E. Bourassa & Sons, Distracted Driving presented by Sgt Sutherland and Const. Wiseman from the Assiniboia RCMP, PTO safety presented by Chris Mansuy from South Country Equipment, Firearm Safety presented by Mike Broder and Gary Jonescu and Bus Safety presented by the PSSD.
Students spent 12 minutes at each station learning about the respective topic, interacting with the displays and presenters and asking questions before moving on to the next station. Volunteer Chris Mansuy said 鈥淚t was a great experience. The students are wonderful and really pay attention. This is an important event and hopefully leads to students having safe practices in all walks of life.鈥�
The students and volunteers enjoyed pizza and cookies for lunch catered by the Assiniboia Bakery. Juice boxes were donated by the Southland Co-op and water was donated by Culligan Water in Moose Jaw.
The Prairie South School division coordinates everything on their end from notifying schools about the day and providing transportation to and from the event for the students. Brett Young is the Career Development Consultant for PSSD and has been a part of a couple safety days said 鈥淔or me it was the best one yet, that I鈥檝e been a part of! I really loved the organization and flow of the day! For me to be able to walk in and it鈥檚 all done, just says so much about the RCAS and your volunteers!鈥�
SASSE also plays an important role in the day; from helping with funding, providing t-shirts for the students and being on-hand for the day. Glen duck from SAASE was on hand throughout the day and had coordinated supplies for several stations and t-shirts for the safety day. The RCAS, SAASE and the PSSD plan to continue to host the event every second year, with the next one to be held in 2020.
鈥淲e are all very grateful that the volunteers continue to support the safety day and take time away from their jobs to spend the day with us. The businesses and groups that the volunteers represent have been so supportive of our safety day and we are so appreciative of that,鈥� said Heatcoat. 鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for the volunteers we wouldn鈥檛 have enough people with hands-on experience to help with the day. Working with Glen from SAASE and Brett from the school division makes organizing the event so simple. We鈥檝e all helped put these days together before and when we gather in Assiniboia for the safety day, everything falls into place.鈥�
Assiniboia Elementary School teacher Laurie Hawkins said 鈥淭he safety day is a very well-organized day that allowed the students to become informed on a variety of safety topics that they could relate to. The way it was organized allowed the students to become engaged in learning throughout the day. It was an excellent experience.鈥�
Feedback for the safety day has been nothing but positive, from students, teachers and the volunteers.
Glentworth student Kaylee Zaharuik said 鈥淚 really enjoyed the impaired driving (fatal vision) and getting to experience what it would be like. I also enjoyed the grain safety. I enjoyed the displays and information.鈥�
Rockglen student Tate McGonigal said 鈥楳y favourite exhibits were the PTO safety, because you don鈥檛 realize how fast they are going and what could really happen if you were to get a piece of loose clothing caught in it and my second favourite was the grain safety exhibit where they told why we should be careful in and around grain bins.鈥�
聽Funding for the day is provided by RCAS, SAASE, PSSD, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, Community Initiatives Fund, the Ministry of Agricultural and Farm Credit Corporation.
