Richland County Sheriff's Department

Safe and Sound Town

The Richland County Sheriff's Department, Chick-fil-A, and Midlands Safe Kids are excited to announce the creation of "SAFE & SOUND TOWN", a fully interactive safety program for first-grade students in Richland and Lexington Counties. Started in November of 1998, "SAFE & SOUND TOWN" incorporates 12 distinct safety components - pedestrian, bicycle, school bus, stranger, fire, water, gun, poison, train tracks, helmets, emergency 911, and traffic into a hands-on 45-minute program taught at all elementary schools in Richland and Lexington Counties. This program is based on the old Chinese proverb, "I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, I understand." In "SAFE & SOUND TOWN", the children "do" instead of just "hearing".

"SAFE & SOUND TOWN" is an entire city complete with buildings, traffic signs, stop lights, train tracks, and more. It is brought to schools FREE OF CHARGE and can be set up on a flat paved area (such as a parking lot or basketball court) or inside a gymnasium or large activity room.

Instructors for the program are from the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Two (2) first-grade classes at a time visit "SAFE & SOUND TOWN". The classes are divided into two groups - drivers and pedestrians. The "drivers" travel through the town on steel-framed big wheels, learning about safety with regards to traffic, safety belts, train tracks, fire, bicycle, poison, and helmets. As the drivers are pedaling their way through the town, the "pedestrian" group is walking through the town learning about safety in the areas of pedestrian, school bus, stranger, gun, water, and emergency 911. Once the two groups have completed their initial trip through the town, they will then swap places so that each child can experience "SAFE & SOUND TOWN" as both a "driver" and a "pedestrian".

Safe and Sound Town setup

Safe and Sound Town instructor

After both classes have completed their trips as drivers and pedestrians, the children will then be given an assortment of prizes including a "SAFE & SOUND TOWN" safety workbook, a drivers license, a certificate of completion, a plastic deputy badge, and a "Chick-fil-A" food coupon good for a free Chick-fil-A kid's meal. Additionally, each teacher receives two brand new bicycle helmets to be given away to each class.

The goal of "SAFE & SOUND TOWN" is to educate every first grade student in Richland and Lexington County on the importance of developing proper safety habits. Each year we will visit all elementary schools in the two counties so that every first-grade student experiences the life-saving messages of "SAFE & SOUND TOWN".

Safe and Sound Town kids

To date, "SAFE & SOUND TOWN" has visited over 500 elementary schools and educated over 40,000 first-grade students. To schedule Safe and Sound Town for your school, please contact Sam Thompson at 419-4909.

5623 Two Notch Road Columbia, South Carolina 29223 (803) 576-3000 phone (803) 576-3195 fax sheriff@rcsd.net
Copyright © 2006 Richland County Sheriff's Department