Send In The Clowns
(From RomeNewswire.com)
Children often state, “When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter.” Likewise, many dream of running away from home to join the circus and become a clown. This past week some privileged members of local and surrounding public safety agencies were able to live both dreams by participating in the 34th Georgia Firefighters Association Alternative Teaching Methods Class aka the “Georgia Firefighters Clown College”.
Firefighters, EMT’s and paramedics from Floyd, Bartow, Rockmart, Cartersville Fire Department’s and Redmond EMS completed the 40-hour course this past week that culminated in a presentation—created by the newly “made” clowns—to the boys and girls of West Central Elementary School Friday morning.
The clown school graduates performed several skits and a puppet show for a crowd of about 300 elementary school children and teachers, along with Rome-Floyd County firefighters from Stations 1 and Station 4. The kids were delighted at the presence of so many clowns and firefighters in their school gymnasium.
Among the clown school students was Redmond EMS’s Director of Operations Robert Early and District 1 (Floyd) Commander Sherry Peace. Early stated that Redmond EMS wanted to get involved because of the many public relations events they participate in on a regular basis. The firefighters are involved as part of their public safety campaigns for kids. They have incorporated their clowns into their safety presentations and it has helped the kids respond to the fire presentations greatly.
The 40-hour clown school began on Monday and participants spent long days learning about the art of clowning and it’s intricacies, team building exercises, informative and educational skit writing as well as balloon modeling. All of the participants were thrilled with the school and the things they were taught.
Redmond’s Early stated, “This was the most fun I have ever had in the educational setting. It was great to learn how to gain a child’s trust through the art of clowning and really believe incorporating clowns into our presentations will allow us to deliver our message concerning safety and prevention to children more effectively.”
Sherry Peace reiterated the same facts and added, “This truly was a life altering event for me as this class truly showed me how to tap into children’s and adults emotions. I believe this will really help me teach public safety on a higher level than I have ever been capable of before.”
The school was brought to Rome by the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department through Fire Educational Specialist Captain Rita Smith and concerning the fire department’s role Early stated, “The Rome Fire Department should be commended for bringing this school to Rome. We now have an extremely large pool of clowns in the North Georgia area to draw from for safety presentations.”
The following people attended and graduated from the school. They now all have new middle names that end in “the Clown”.
Bartow County Fire Department
Billy (Bonezy) Ward
Josh (Cubby) Castleberry
Cartersville Fire Department
Hagen (Festus) Champion
Rome-Floyd County Firefighters
Danny (McGiggles) McGhee
Dean (Dean-O) Oswalt
Robert (Bob-O) Owens
Redmond EMS
Robert (Band-Aid) Early
Sherry (Me-Ow) Peace
Callie (Twinkles ) Hulsey
Andrew (Pedals) Denmon
Wyndie (Chloe Belle)Medley – already a clown, took advanced training during the course
Rockmart Fire Department
Aaron (Zippo) Wood
Pat (Firecracker) Casey
Instructors
Diane (Freckles) Lanier
Gary (Dooley) Garland
Jerry (Bubba) Harden
Rita (Bubbles) Smith
Vann (Coolade) Baxter
« Rome Braves Named Honor Guard Member | Home | Caring Hearts »
Comments are closed.