BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY is one of many Social Emotional Learning activities organized by the Greenwich Public Schools (GPS) this year as a way to promote a safe school climate by fostering social-emotional skills in our students and reinforcing the District Norms. The 2016-2017 school year marks the fourth year of events celebrating the District Norms: Be Here, Be Safe, Be Honest, Care for Self and Others, Let Go and Move On. Using lesson plans developed by mental health professionals and teachers, schools across the District will participate in these Social Emotional Learning activities. This year, the program will expand into the community with the support of a grant from the Greenwich Alliance for Education.
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a majority of students in the Greenwich Public Schools will celebrate BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY in school. On Saturday, Feb. 4, a community event will be held at Byram Fire Station involving firefighters, police officers, and paramedics.
BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY is a common initiative across grade levels to promote making responsible decisions in all areas of one’s life.
Students will:
• categorize zones of panic, comfort and growth;
• identify their zone of comfort in relation to provided topics and situations, as well as identify
• their peers’ zones of comfort in relation to those same provided topics and situations; and
• realize that they learn best in a growth zone, but understand that not everyone may share
• their same zone with regards to certain topics and situations.
The BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY Day will be held across Greenwich Public Schools in classroom and group activities.
In addition, on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a community event at Byram Fire Station, 266 Delavan Ave. Parents and children can:
• Meet and greet the people that keep us safe: firefighters, police officers, and paramedics
• Enjoy free coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies
• Explore fire and GEMS trucks, and police cars
• Get their picture taken and decorate their own frame
• Get safety tips from the experts
• Leave with a great memory
Tuesday, Jan. 31, in GPS schools, and Saturday, Feb. 4 at Byram Fire Station.
The BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY event is a meaningful initiative in two ways: First, it promotes awareness of safety in various environments. Second, it acknowledges other’s levels of comfort and individuals who help to maintain safe environments in our schools and community.
Mental health professionals and teachers from many of the schools coordinated the event with the teachers, administrators and students in their respective schools. Lesson plans were disseminated structured around the theme BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY, encouraging teachers to implement them in their own creative ways. All school bus drivers will wear green t-shirts with the BE SAFE – YOU ARE THE KEY TO SAFETY message, to raise awareness and increase visibility of the event. In addition, all teachers, staff and students in the GPS and at the Central Office are encouraged to wear the color GREEN on Jan. 31, expressing their participation in the event.
About the Greenwich Alliance for Education (greenwichalliance.org)
The Greenwich Alliance for Education mobilizes community resources to provide opportunities and services that foster educational success for all Greenwich Public Schools students. We define “educational success” for students as the ability to pursue further education and/or to work to support oneself after graduation.
