Bicycling Basics
Mrs. Smith's Third Graders Receive Free Helmets
March 28, 2008
Third graders in Mrs. Smith’s third grade class at Liberty
Elementary have
pledged to ride with their helmets on. These pledges came
following a unit the class did on health and safety and a visit
from Mrs. Jennifer Donaldson of Galena and two other nurses from
the trauma center at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri. The
ladies presented an hour long class on cycling safety and proper
helmet use. The students learned that over 153,000 people visit the
ER room every year with head injuries due to bicycle wrecks.
A majority of these visits could have been prevented if the
patient had been wearing a helmet.
Many kids and adults choose not to wear a helmet because of lack of time, poor fit, not looking “cool” enough, or being too expensive. These Liberty students no longer can use any of these excuses. Each third grader was given and fitted with a free helmet during the presentation.
The children enjoyed learning about the proper way to wear a helmet and just how important a helmet is for their safety. Thank you very much to the Freeman Hospital Trauma & Emergency Center for donating the helmets and their time.
