Students Earn Ride to School in Fire Truck

Image courtesy of the Putnam County Record

Fifth-grader Sophia Brown, 10, (left) third-grader Lola Calkins, 9, and fourth-grader Conlan Cwikla, 10, from Putnam County Elementary, got a ride to school from the Hennepin Fire Department. This year, department members Quentin Buffington and Dan Zilm picked the students up in the truck.

The students won the ride by completing a drawing of their homes with a plan of how to safely get out of each room in the case of a fire. Besides the ride to school, the students also got gift certificate for a Casey’s pizza party.

The winning plans will be displayed at the school before moving to the fire station.

The Hennepin Fire Department has been giving rides to students in third, fourth, and fifth grades for six years. The department gives the students grid paper during fire safety week, and asks them to draw the plan and return it to school. The department officers then choose one winner and one runner up from each grade level.

After arriving at school, an assembly is held in honor of the winners, and students are again reminded on fire safety.

Runners up this year were Daric Wiesbrock in third grade, Maggie Richetta in fourth, and Ashlee Fuchs in fifth grade. The runners up were awarded $10.

All students also received a bracelet and bookmark from the fire department.

Source: News Tribune