Popular Westlake program educates youngsters about school and traffic safety
After receiving her Safety Town diploma on July 9 from Mayor Dennis Clough, Kylie Nolan is about to give high-fives to (left-to-right) Community Service Officer Anna Cavender, Police Chief Richard Walling and Provisional Fire Chief Dale Kraus.
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This summer, Westlake Safety Town continued its three-decades-long tradition of educating children entering kindergarten about street-crossing safety, school safety issues and stranger caution. The program was spearheaded by Officer Anna Cavender, Community Service Officer for the Westlake Police Department, along with Safety Town Director Olivia Kostecke, Senior Assistant Rachael Delfing, Junior Assistant Dan Chida and an energetic team of student volunteers.
During each two-week session, children visit the fire and police stations for tours and end with a celebratory graduation ceremony, attended by Mayor Dennis Clough, Police Chief Richard Walling or Captain Guy Turner and Asst. Fire Chief Timothy Zack, along with a visit from police department safety mascot “Safety Pup.”
Also in attendance are local dentist Dr. David LaSalvia and his staff, who volunteer their time to provide “Toothprints,” a dental identification system providing useful information for searches and identification, for the Safety Town participants.
At the each closing ceremony, Officer Anna recaps the program by reminding the children about the danger zone around the school bus, calling 9-1-1 for “people” emergencies only, saying no to strangers and about fire safety procedures including “stop, drop and roll.” She also reminds the children that police and firefighters are their friends and are there to help them with anything they need, although “not with their homework,” as one child cleverly pointed out at one of the ceremonies. Mayor Clough presents a certificate to each child who has completed the program and poses for photos with each graduate.
The Westlake Safety Town program is highly regarded as one of the best in the country and has been attended by children from as far away as California, with 270 students and 197 volunteers participating this summer. Officer Anna recognizes the efforts of the volunteers who contribute to the program’s success and is extremely appreciative of the support from community leaders, civic organizations, the local police and fire departments and to Dr. LaSalvia and his staff for providing their services free of charge to the many graduates of the Safety Town program.
Dr. LaSalvia has offered Toothprints to his patients since 1996, and wanted to share the benefits of the service with the community. He and his staff became involved in the Safety Town program five years ago, after contacting Officer Anna.
“She and Chief Walling have been instrumental in our involvement with Safety Town,” LaSalvia said. “We are pleased that for the past five years we have made this unique identification tool for all the young graduates and we believe this is a definite enhancement to an already outstanding safety program. The children enjoy making their Toothprint and for the parents we find it brings some additional peace of mind.”
Although dental restorations and X-rays have historically been the primary basis for dental identification, methods such as Toothprints are now important because the successful fight against tooth decay has left many children with no cavities or dental records to be used for identification. For more information about Toothprints, check with your dentist or contact Dr. LaSalvia and his staff at their Westlake office.
Laura Gonzalez lives in Bay Village.