East Haddam Middle School Students Get 'Fired Up' as Classmates Arrive in Fire Engines (photos and video)

The entire 4th and 5th grade classes along with their teachers crowded together in front of the Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School in East Haddam this past Friday morning. They were lined up eagerly anticipating the arrival of their classmates, who, along with school principal Jason Peacock, would be treated to a ride to school on two of the East Haddam Volunteer Fire Department's engines.

Students had participated in the annual 'Connecticut Fire Prevention Poster Contest' under the guidance and direction of 4th-grade art teacher Sue Weaver and 5th-grade art teacher Claudia Mazzotta.

The excitement escalated as the engines approached the school parking lot with lights flashing, air-horns and sirens blaring. As the engines pulled up to the curb to let the students off, their names and winning places were announced over the PA system as they stepped down out of the trucks (see video by Lori Mareno).

The winners were 4th-grade 1st-place winner Tucker Stanley, 4th-grade runner up Jennifer Indellicati, 5th-grade 1st-place winner Sierra Cazassa and 5th-grade runner up Emma McGahee. The students then lined up with their winning posters, the firemen and their principal in front of Engine 1-15 for photos and videos.

Sierra Cazassa had also been the 4th-grade 1st-place winner of the poster contest last year.

The posters were all created to promote the importance of the message: "Fire Prevention - Everyone/Everyday".

The fire department awarded each of the the four students with gift certificates and the winning posters will now be submitted to the Office of the State Fire Marshal to represent Middlesex County for competition with other schools and counties poster entries for the state-level contest.

The contest will conclude with a luncheon for all county winners, their parents, teachers, local fire marshals and other guests. The statewide winning poster will be reproduced and distributed as Connecticut's Year-2012 Fire Prevention Poster.

Some of the winning posters will also be featured in the '2013 Fire Prevention Calendar.'

Last year approximately 30,000 4th and 5th-graders from more than 130 towns submitted posters. According to John Riordan and Jo-Lynn Van Wart, Co-Chairpersons of the fire prevention poster contest, "Children, among the most vulnerable of our population, are also the most likely to learn and to retain the fire safety message. Most importantly, children are a valuable link in the chain of communication; taking the lesson home and promoting fire prevention measures to the entire family."

The contest is sponsored by the Connecticut FAIR Plan, representing the Connecticut Insurance Industry, in cooperation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Connecticut Fire Marshals Association, Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association and Connecticut State Board of Education.