Students enjoy fire and rescue display
Published 4:15 pm Saturday, June 26, 2021
Firefighter EMT Ruthie Grant, right of center, shows an S.P. Morton Elementary School pre-K class what it will find in a Franklin Fire and Rescue ambulance during a demonstration June 3. Firefighter EMT Brian Morris, right, assists with the presentation. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Firefighter Medic Andrew Heard, with City of Franklin Fire and Rescue, points out and explains details to S.P Morton Elementary School pre-K students about equipment that he and the department use during emergency calls. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Masen Parker, of S.P. Morton Elementary School, raises his hand with a question for one of the firefighters present at the school June 3. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Ca’Liyah Wilson, a student at S.P. Morton Elementary School, asks a question of Franklin Fire and Rescue Firefighter EMT Ruthie Grant on June 3. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Lashawn Benn raises his hand, patiently waiting for his opportunity to pose a question to one of the firefighters. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Franklin Fire and Rescue Firefighter EMT Ruthie Grant points to a kindergarten student with her hand raised so the student can ask her question. On the far right is Physical Education Teacher Amy Gay, who helped organize the fire and rescue demonstration. Center, in the back, is S.P. Morton Elementary School Dean of Students Irvin Ricks. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
S.P. Morton Elementary School pre-K and kindergarten students wave goodbye to City of Franklin Fire and Rescue as its Engine 2 and Medic 1 vehicles prepare to depart. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
S.P. Morton Elementary School pre-K and kindergarten classes watch as a rocket flies into the air during a demonstration June 3. In the foreground, from left, is Instructional Aid Calvin Sing, Treshawn Patillo, Javont’e Goodwin and Jaylin King. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
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The S.P. Morton Elementary School’s resource team recently arranged for its pre-K through third-grade students to have an experience that was rare during the 2020-21, COVID-impacted school year — an in-person, show-and-tell learning opportunity.
On June 1-3, City of Franklin Fire and Rescue visited the elementary school with some of its apparatus to show to the students, and firefighters described the equipment that they use in emergency situations.
“This is so nice because COVID has been rough,” S.P. Morton Principal Kris Gillgren said of the show-and-tell learning opportunity. “There haven’t been a lot of field trips, they haven’t had a lot of interaction in person, so this is desperately needed, and the kids are loving it.”
He noted that some of the school’s teachers, who would otherwise have been busy working with the students on a normal day, were also loving the Franklin Fire and Rescue event because it allowed them some free time to wrap up paperwork and get the year closed out.
“The fire department has been fantastic just to show up and provide this to the kids,” Gillgren said. “So we owe them a great debt of gratitude.”
After seeing and learning about the fire and rescue apparatus June 3, students were treated to a completely different display made possible by an after school club and the Franklin unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia. Those groups built some small rockets that were launched into the air behind the school.
