Painting a tractor with a bucket in the classroom at SafetyTown, Veronica Griffith asked a group of rising kindergarteners if they should get in the bucket of a tractor.

The resounding answer was, “No!”

“Is that safe or unsafe,” asked Griffith, program coordinator.

“Unsafe,” the children shouted.

The students were nearing the end of their 10-day experience at Safety Town and had just had a visit from Torgerson’s with a real-life tractor, sans bucket, they were able to climb into, sit in the driver’s seat and climb out.

“Slow down, look around:” Students learn, play at Safety Town [2025]

The visitor from Torgerson’s, with Safety Town teacher Ryan Beam, gave the students an overview of how to be safe around tractors and farm equipment.

Throughout the week, students at SafetyTown learn a variety of safety concepts, such as stranger danger, stop, drop, and roll, fireworks safety, gun safety, dog safety, how to cross streets, and how to sit on the school bus.

Visitors included the Great Falls Police Department, Great Falls Fire Rescue, Great Falls Emergency Services, BNSF, the American Red Cross, among others.

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Griffith said the program didn’t previously include fireworks safety, but parents suggested it be added since the program is typically in mid to late June, just before the July 4 holiday.

Beam said the students “learn about general safety when navigating the community at large.”

Each day, they review what they learned the previous day. Their daily homework is to go home and tell their parents at least one thing they learned at Safety Town.

They become “extremely good passenger seat drivers,” Beam joked, and they often hear from parents that Safety Town graduates are quick to point out unsafe driving maneuvers.

“We hope it sticks with them, especially getting to and from school,” Beam said. “We want these skills to transfer for as long as possible.”

At graduation, students demonstrate for their families what they’ve learned before heading out to Safety Town Village, a miniature town with painted roadways, traffic signals, stop signs and replicas of local buildings, including the Great Falls Public Library, Benefis, Scheels, Milwaukee Station and Howard’s Pizza.

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In the village, the students take turns being “drivers” on Stryder bikes and pedestrians to practice crossing streets safely.

A volunteer walking with students says, “look left, look right, look left again, and now we can cross.”

Safety Town was created in 1937 by a police officer and a kindergarten teacher after a child was hit by a car and killed while walking to school.

Students learn, have fun at Safety Town [2023]

The program started with traffic safety and has since expanded to include other areas such as fire, kitchen and bike safety, as well as stranger danger and more.

The local program is a partnership with Great Falls Public Schools and the National Safety Town Center, and was established in 2022 with a $10,000 innovation grant through the Great Falls Public Schools Foundation.

With the grant funding, organizers built their Safety Town village at Skyline School with a roadway course that incorporates stop signs, yield signs, a roundabout, railroad crossing and a one-way.

Now the program is funded through community sponsors, donors and participation fees.

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This year, The Electric sat down with some students in the afternoon session to talk about what they learned and their tips for how to be safe.

Winnie said, “never go near a tractor by its wheels,” and “never go back in a burning house, even after you forget something.”

Her safety tip for others, “if a stranger tells you to come and get some candy, you have to run away.”

“Cause you might get kidnapped,” her classmate Lincoln added.

Sage said they learned how to sit on a school bus.

“We sit our bottoms down and we buckle our seatbelts,” she said.

Sonny added that “we use the rails to climb up.”

Sage said she’d tell others about “stopping and looking around and slowing down.”

In a fire, Sonny said, “you get low and stay out and find a meeting place.”

Sage added, “even though you left something that was your favorite inside the house, you have to dial 911.”

On strangers, Sonny said, “tell them no, I’m not going to get in your car and run away and tell an adult.”

At an intersection, Sonny said you should “stop and look for cars. If there’s no cars, you can go and if there is cars, just stop.”

Noah said he liked learning about the signs, which included a traffic signal.

“One means stop, one means slow down and look around one means go,” Noah said.

In case of fire, Noah said you “get low and go. Stay out and find your meeting place.”

Noah and Colin both said to call 911 in case of fire.

Colin said the GFPD officer taught them about gun safety.

“It’s not safe when a gun’s loaded and it’s not safe to shoot it, only with a dad or a mom or a grandpa, somebody you know,” Noah said and if you see one, “stop, turn around and run away.”

For July 4, Colin learned, “don’t play with fireworks,” and Noah added, “don’t play with the sparkling on the sticks.”

*Photos by Keed’n Connell of Speaking Socially for The Electric