Safety Town, an annual summer program to help teach pre-k students about different ways to stay safe at school and at home, recently opened sign ups for student volunteers.
Safety Town previously worked as two different programs, split between Bath and Richfield. This year, they will combine as the Revere Safety Town.

Officer Scott Dressler, one of the main officers that helped to coordinate the program, led the combination of the two programs.

“I have been trying for four years to combine Bath and Richfield’s programs to run [as] one,” said Dressler.

Last year, Safety Town did not have a program, due to summer COVID concerns.

“This year we will allow kindergarten students from last year since they did not get to attend due to Covid,” Dressler said.
Safety Town will take place in-person this year at Richfield Elementary and will abide by standard COVID regulations.

“We are going to use all guidelines that are currently in compliance with the CDC and the state,” Dressler said.

The changes to Safety Town this year came from a board of people, each from a different specialty relating to the safety program.

“There are four others along with me heading [it] up: Geoff Kuzas from Bath fire, Stacie Houser from Bath Police, Kevin Urban from Richfield fire, and Rachel Alaimo from Richfield Elementary school. We make decisions as a group,” Dressler said.

As a multi-day program with a large number of students, Safety Town uses funding from a variety of sponsors.

“We are going to be sponsored by WAGS investment group, Mellion Orthodontics, and The Revere School Foundation,” Dressler said.

Volunteers help with supervising the students and keeping them on task during the lessons.

“We are looking for volunteers for the students and also to assist with teaching certain subjects,” Dressler said.

Each volunteer helps out with a small group of students, divided into red, blue, yellow, and green groups to keep the number of students manageable. Each group needs enough volunteers to manage and assist the students.

“We will need around fifty student volunteers, and they will be expected to assist the safety town students in learning and building a bond with them,” Dressler said.

Ashley Ellis, a Safety Town volunteer for three years, along with her sister, Paige Ellis, helps the students during the program.

“I like being able to see the kids grow throughout the week and make friends with everyone,” Ashley Ellis said.

Paige Ellis, also a Safety Town volunteer for three years, plans on returning to Safety Town to volunteer again this year, along with her sister.

“It’s a nice experience to help out and interact with the kids and with the other helpers,” Paige Ellis said.