A miniature town with a big purpose is now open as Southwest Licking Schools hosted a ribbon cutting for its new Safety Town at the Pataskala BRIDGE Academy June 18.
With students, community members, and a special appearance by Raider, the local police’s K-9 officer, in attendance, the event marked the launch of an outdoor learning environment built specifically for young learners
“I have great memories of my son attending a safety town program, and I always thought, why don’t we have that in Licking County?,” said Superintendent Dr. Kasey Perkins. “After years of research and conversations, we decided to bring that safety education to our kids and model it after our local downtown community.”
Designed by Garmann Miller site professionals Shira Elder, PLA, and Adeline Baney, Safety Town features one- and two-way streets, proper signage, and several kid-sized structures of local businesses and first responders.
“We had to think tiny and always keep in mind what things we wanted the kids to learn,” Elder said.
GM construction administrator Garrick Manning also put his masonry skills to work. “Laying the brick for this little schoolhouse was more than just part of the job—it was a chance to build something meaningful for the kids and the community,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent Mike Tanchevski believes Safety Town’s collaboration mirrors the values educators aim to instill in students. “This project is a model of how we want to teach our kids—through teamwork, creativity, problem-solving and curiosity.”
SWL’s recent Safety Town Camp welcomed more than 100 incoming kindergarten, first- and second-grade students for an immersive experience designed to teach safety fundamentals. Students attended classroom-based sessions and rode a minibus to practice transportation safety.
Support for Safety Town also came from local partners, including the Licking County Health Department, the district’s transportation department, and energy cooperatives. Teams from area businesses such as The Dairy Hut and Capuano’s Pizza House came out for a photo op next to their Safety Town building.
“This was a huge team effort and great for our community,” Tanchevski added.
