Schools start with safety

Kids began their school year with a primer on safety and respect at Top of the World Elementary School Sept. 7.

After an assembly in which they learned about the exploits of their mascot Chipper during summer vacation and about their new Treasure Tower rewards for good behavior, the kids watched a video on respecting others’ differences.

They then gathered at stations around the campus, including the bus loading area and the playground, where the school’s coaches taught them how to obey the school’s “ABCs of Success” on campus.

The ABCs are “Act Responsibly,” “Be Prepared to Learn” and “Care for Yourself and Others.”

At the play structure, Coach Nikki Duplisea taught the kids to walk, rather than run; wear close-toed shoes in the area; and not play “shoot-’em-up” games.

Kids eagerly volunteered to show their classmates how to use the equipment the “wrong way,” figuring it was their one chance to do so without getting in trouble.

They ran up the slide, hung under the swinging bridge, and went the wrong way on the monkey bars, to the oohs and aahs of their classmates.

The student from each class who proved they learned the most was treated to the first token of the school year to be used in the Treasure Tower, where they cashed it in for a sticky eyeball, spinning top or metal ring.