EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mary Werderitch, IFSA Executive Director
From the January 2007 newsletter...
This has been a year of making new friends and certainly keeping the old. The Illinois Fire Safety Alliance continues to develop partnerships that help us further achieve our mission of disseminating fire safety and prevention education materials.
Words cannot adequately express how proud we are of our new “Get Fired Up About Fire Safety” Interactive CD. It was a painful and long three years for our Education Committee but the outcome is state-of-the-art! This educational tool has brought the fire safety curriculum to an interactive dimension which is not only educational but fun for all levels. A copy of the CD ROM was sent to every fire department in Illinois. We have asked each department to:
- Form a teacher/firefighter/parent/guardian partnership.
- Keep an ongoing record of your program’s progress noting pros and cons as well as the parents’ and teachers’ reactions.
- Upon completion of the program, send a summary of the results and any comments to the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance at the office address.
If any of your schools would like their own copies, please have them contact our office and we will provide them at no cost.
The Illinois Fire Safety Alliance partnered with the Phoenix Society this year to sponsor the development of a school reentry after burn injury program. The program is called “The Journey Back”. This comprehensive resource includes: burn recovery information, classroom activities (our interactive CD), fire safety information, and tips for the school faculty, families and survivor are all included to help ease the transition back to school. Tools such as audiovisual resources, presentation evaluation, record keeping and follow up documents will also be included.
Reentering one’s peer group is a critical milestone of recovery and for children, an essential part of their social and emotional development. This resource is user friendly and will equip any trusted adult in the student’s life with tools that can be used to ease reentry for a burn injured child. The materials are designed to be flexible to meet the individual needs of students, schools, and programs.
The IFSA office is often faced with teachers, parents/guardians contacting us with the need for this type of resource. We will now have a quality, all-encompassing tool to provide to those who will benefit. We appreciate and thank the Phoenix Society for inviting us to partner in this very worthwhile effort.
The A Momentary Touch That Will Last a Lifetime! “A Sparkler Story” DVD was mailed out last summer. If you did not receive a copy and would like to have one, please contact our office. Injuries as a result of sparkler use are very preventable. This DVD was developed to educate the public on the dangers of handing sparklers to children.
Mark your calendars, the dates for IFSA Camp “I Am Me” are June 17 to the 23. Visitor’s Day will be held Wednesday, June 20th. Look for Visitor’s Day and Fun Fair Volunteer flyers in our May newsletter. Hope to see you all there!
Here’s to a happy and fire safe 2007!
Mary Werderitch
Executive Director, Illinois Fire Safety Alliance