#FDNYSmart School of the Month

Congratulations to our #FDNYSmart School of the Month, the CCS Montessori Center in Rochdale Village in Queens!

The early childhood development center offers early childhood development programs for children ages 2-12 and over the summer, held a Summer Camp during which the FDNY Fire Safety Education Team teamed up with the school to engage campers and their families in fire safety lessons.

“We have had several families that were devastated by house fires and we wanted to have the children exposed to the actual firefighters to talk to them and tell them how to avoid the dangers of fires,” said Yvonne Young, CCS Montessori Center Owner and Director. “Even though we talk about fire and how to escape, as well as read books to the children, to have an in person encounter with these brave and expert community leaders was awesome.”

FDNY members gave classroom presentations to campers, who took the lessons home to their families.

“Young people are among the most vulnerable to fire and we know that fire safety education is essential to the goal of lowering and ultimately eliminating residential fire deaths in the city,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. “It is schools like the CCS Montessori Center that are helping to make this possible. By partnering with the FDNY and encouraging students and families to be aware of critical, life-saving fire safety information, they are helping us to save lives.”

“A child who knows how to escape from a burning building, who knows not to play with matches and who knows how to ‘stop, drop and run,’ is a child that will not be harmed by fire,” said Young. “And as you know, parents do listen to their children.”

Young said she was impressed by the FDNY presentations, and was encouraged to see the campers responding to fire safety questions.

“In fact,” she said, “one of the children told the story of how his house caught on fire because his daddy had put too many plugs in the socket!”

Young said she was so pleased by the response to the presentation, she plans to continue to make fire safety a part of the core curriculum, as well as to hold further training with parents and families to emphasize fire safety at home.

“A critical component of the FDNY Foundation’s mission is to fund fire safety education in New York City,” said FDNY Foundation Board Chairman Stephen Ruzow. “We are so proud of the CCS Montessori Center for taking advantage of the incredible educational opportunities offered by the FDNY and for helping to keep these students and families safe from fire.”

Congratulations to CCS Montessori Center! Thank you for working to keep your students and your surrounding community #FDNYSmart!

For more information on how you can get involved with our Fire Safety Education Program, please click here.