At All Superstars Preschool, we create different themes for our students to study each week. During the month of January one of our themes was American Heroes. For this theme, we teach our children about the heroes who help keep our communities safe and running smoothly. These heroes include police officers, EMTs, fire fighters and the men and women who serve our country.

The American Heroes theme is particularly popular with our VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) students because we arrange for these community heroes to visit our keen little learners and teach them about what they do on a daily basis.

A visitor we had this month was Mrs. Trish Fontaine from the Lee County Emergency Medical Services Department. Mrs. Trish is a grandparent at our preschool and has been showing our students the ins and outs of her ambulance for many years now. The relationship we have forged with her and the Lee County EMS department over the years is second-to-none. We are so thankful to have her volunteer her time to teach our VPK students about her ambulance and what to do in the case of an emergency.

The excitement of Mrs. Trish’s visit begins as soon as she pulls into the parking lots of our little schools. She flashes her lights and sounds her sirens to let our preschoolers know she’s arrived. The children buzz with excitement as they line up in neat little lines to board the ambulance.

Once the children sit quietly within the ambulance, Mrs. Trish quizzes our VPK students on what an emergency is and when it is appropriate to dial 9-1-1. After this quiz, the children are well versed on what constitutes an emergency; and it certainly isn’t running out of milk for the morning’s bowl of cereal!

Next, the children are shown the tools Mrs. Trish uses on her emergency calls. This portion of the visit is incredibly beneficial to the children as it breaks down some very common fears children have when it comes to medical procedures and devices. Miss Trish patiently shows our VPK students how she monitors oxygen levels, takes blood pressure and secures broken limbs using a vacuum cast! Some children are a bit nervous to try these devices out, however once shown that they are harmless, it is smiles all around!

Here at All Superstars Preschool, we take pride in our strong relationships with our community. Not only does it provide an exciting morning for our little ones, but it also increases our children’s’ learning capacity and curiosity for what life provides outside of preschool.

Thank you so much to Mrs. Trish and the Lee County Emergency Services team for providing our VPK students with lifelong memories and education!