FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mia Toschi
Phone: 203-705-3481A Pooch Leads the Way to Playground Safety
Weekly Reader, industry and non-profit organizations
team-up to help educate schoolchildren on safe playSlyde The Playground Hound digs away at an alarming safety statistic
Each year more than 200,000 children are injured at playgrounds seriously enough to require emergency room attention, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In an effort to bring this alarming statistic down, four playground industry organizations, the non-profit sector, an industry trade publisher and Weekly Reader have joined forces to create a curriculum that will help educate children about playground safety.
The Play Smart, Play Safe curriculum will reach more than 750,000 kindergarten students in early April just in time to celebrate National Playground Safety Week, created by the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) that begins April 24th. The purpose of the Play Smart, Play Safe curriculum is to raise awareness among children as to their role in playing safe and avoiding hazards on and around playground equipment.
“This is the first time in the history of playground industry that a comprehensive safety program for children will be taught in schools to so many children at one time,” noted Cheryl Kaczmarek, director of marketing for the BCI Burke playground company. “It couldn’t have happened without the expertise and collaboration of everyone involved.”
The historic collaboration includes Playground Hound LLC, the National Program for Safety (NPPS), industry trade publisher - Today’s Playground Magazine, the BCI Burke Playground Equipment Company, and two safety-surfacing companies - Sof’Fall Inc. and Play Matta, and educational publishing leader Weekly Reader. These industry leaders have enlisted the assistance of Slyde The Playground Hound, to teach playground safety awareness to children. Slyde is an animated character created by Curtis Stoddard.
“Delivery is the key,” says Stoddard. “Slyde presents a message of safe play that is entertaining and fun. Children listen to Slyde and identify with him. It was a natural for Weekly Reader to utilize Slyde in this curriculum.”
Slyde will make a live guest appearance at the 84th National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) conference in Baltimore, MD April 15-18. Contact Cheryl Kaczmarek for details at 920-921-9220 ext. 3020
The National Program for Playground Safety was very instrumental in the collaboration between industry leaders. As Dr. Susan Hudson, Director of Education for NPPS said,
”Our goal is simple: To reduce the number and severity of injuries to our children.”“We are very excited about this program,” said Peter Esposito, President of Weekly Reader Consumer and Custom Publishing. “Teaching playground safety in the classroom will help children understand that playing safe is playing smart.”
Nationwide, more than 46,000 Weekly Reader teacher subscribers will have the opportunity to share this unique approach to playground safety with engaging activities and a four-color classroom wall poster guide that can be used and re-used year after year. Teachers may also download a copy of the Play Smart, Play Safe curriculum. For more information visit www.playgroundhound.com/teachersguide.html)
WRC Consumer and Custom Publishing Group
WRC Consumer and Custom Publishing Group includes the custom educational publishing company Lifetime Learning Systems® (Lifetime). Lifetime is the recognized leader in developing unique educational programs customized for sponsors such as corporations, nonprofit associations and government agencies that want to cost effectively reach target audiences through established channels.