Students attend the Safety Town graduation ceremony. Courtesy photo
Thank you Century Bank and the LAPS Foundation for providing bike helmets for all students who attended Safety Town. Courtesy photo
LAPS News:
Seventy-one incoming kindergartners successfully completed the Los Alamos County’s Child Safety Program Preschool Safety Training Course. Students were presented with Certificates of Completion by Los Alamos Police Department Sergeant Benjamin Irving and Los Alamos Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Mike Johnson during a ceremony held at Barranca Mesa Elementary School last Friday.
Safety Town is sponsored by Los Alamos Public Schools, Los Alamos County, and the Los Alamos Police Department. Over 900 children have attended Safety Town since the program was started in 2015 by Chief Sgambellone. Superintendent Jennifer Guy commented, “As we mark a decade of Safety Town, I want to thank Chief Sgambellone and our entire community including school staff, LAPD, families, volunteers, and community organizations for coming together to give our youngest students a fun way to learn important safety skills. This program is a great example of community collaboration and support for kids.”
“This was the tenth anniversary year for Safety Town in Los Alamos,” said program coordinator and LAPS Preschool Director Jennifer Washnok. “Every year the students and families look forward to this week. Thank you to our community partners that shared their expertise with the kids. Seeing the smiles on the faces of students and sharing in their excitement as they learned new things is what makes our job worthwhile.”
Students participated in a number of hands-on activities, crafts, interactions with safety personnel, and safety situations to prepare for potential hazards they may encounter at school, at home or in the community. They also learned songs that reinforced what they learned, and sang during the graduation ceremony.
Each day of Safety Town focused on a different safety topic. The first day was all about water, animal and hearing safety. Students learned how to put on life vests and to only swim when an adult is present, as well as to always wear sunscreen when outside, drink lots of water and be safe on the trails. They were also taught about what to do if they encounter animals, who to call, and what are safe practices. Dangerous Decimals, which focused on hearing safety, was facilitated by Micheal Rosenow, LANL.
Fire Safety was the topic on Tuesday, with visits from the fire department and discussions about what is an emergency, when to call 911, what to do in the event of a fire, and the importance of knowing your address. Students had the chance to check out the smoke truck, and learn how to stop, drop and roll.
Police safety was the topic of the day on Wednesday. Students learned about gun safety, including what to do if you find a gun. They also met Los Alamos Police Detective Mike Weiss and his K9 partner Jaskey. Chief Sgambellone read two stories to students, and handed out books for students to take home.
On Thursday, students learned about transportation safety, which included visits from the LAPS transportation department and the Atomic City Transit. They learnedbus safety rules, how to wait at the bus stops and how to use the cross walks.
And they were able to ride the buses around the block.
Every day students had the chance to practice bike safety. Century Bank and the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation donated bike helmets to each child participating in Safety Town. Kritsy Ortega, Associate Broker, RE/MAX First, donated bikes to the program last year which students rode around the bike course.
Thank you to the LAPD School Resource Officers Sergeant Irving, Corporal Amos Smith, Corporal James Keane, and Corporal John Harris, Commander Christopher Ross, and the LAPS staff members who helped to make the 2025 Safety Town a success, including teachers Carrie Johnson, Secilli Keeler, Linda Nash, Edemi Penny, Nancy Vasque-Parga and Maria Fe West, and educational assistants Joanie Maestas, Francine Martinez, Anne Slowik, Anchulee Subsomboon and Mary Yamada. Several high school students volunteered for Safety Town, including River Yamada, Keana Coriz, Evangelina Gutierrez, Angelica Montoya, and Alessandra Trujillo. They were a big help with the students.
Transportation safety was the topic of the day last Thursday during Safety Town. Courtesy photo
