Intriguing Visitors Come to West Midland Family Center Preschool

Every Wednesday, the preschool children at West Midland Family Center have some special visitors. Rose Rickard, along with her friend, Priscilla Bevericks, come every Wednesday at 11:00 to read an event-packed story to the children.

“Rose has been coming faithfully every week for over ten years to read to the children," explained Preschool Teacher Wendy Plewa, "It doesn’t matter if it is snowing or the sun is shining, we can always count on Rose to come and share not only her story, but her love of reading, with the children"

"The children are very excited when they see Rose come through the classroom door on Wednesdays,"continued Plewa, "She is a wonderful literacy role model. After Rose and Pricilla's visit, the children spend the next week talking about the “cool” book she read" and look forward to her next visit."

The preschool children also had a few other special visitors in Officer Brown and Officer Powell from the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department . Officer Brown,a father of Colby (one of the preschool students),and Officer Powell, came to tell the children how police officers can help them and others.

Officers Powell and Brown discussed how they “do their jobs” and explained how police officers are everyone’s friend. They showed the students some of the equipment that a police officer uses, like their flashlight, stick, and handcuffs. They discussed ways in which the children can be safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods.

Since the officers visit was near the end of October, they also discussed "trick-or-treat" safety. They told the children to make sure they go "trick-or-treating" with an adult, use a flashlight, and make sure that a parent “looks over” the candy before they eat it.

The officers also showed the children their police car and each child had a turn at sitting in the backseat. Officer Brown also demonstrated the features of the car. He ran the blinking lights and sounded the siren. The children couldn't stop talking about the lights and the “super loud” siren.

One of the highlights of the officers visit was when Officer Brown and Officer Powell showed the children the things they brought for them. They brought each child a red blinking light and shiny bag, (to use on Halloween), an official police pad, a pencil, and a police badge sticker.

"The children learned some valuable tips on how to be safe and this visit also helped the children to understand how police officers can be our friend and help them and others when we need them," explained Plewa.