Inside our schools; Elementary students learning about fire safety
Elementary students across Kootenai County and elsewhere will be learning about fire this month thanks to local fire agencies. Though National Fire Prevention Week is next week, fire safety presentations will be given all this month at local elementary schools to the youngest students, usually second grade or younger.
“It’s a prime age to hit,” said Dean Marcus, fire chief of the Northern Lakes Fire District. “They’re curious.”
Firefighters from local agencies talk with kids at area elementary schools and about how to prevent fires and what to do if they’re involved in one.
“We talk about smoke detectors; we talk about 911; we talk about safety with matches and lighters. We talk about getting out safe – stop, drop and roll, that kind of thing.”
Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the dangers of fire and to visit the fire station with their child if he or she seems particularly prone to playing with flames.
Help keep kids warm
The annual Coats 4 Kids drive runs until Friday. Bring new or gently used coats to Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls or Lakeland Schools, or drop them off at the Harding Family Center, 411 N. 15th Street in Coeur d’Alene. Call 666-6755 for more information.
Lake City High’s new play
Lake City High students will put on their first play of the school year beginning Oct. 18. The “Imaginary Invalid” is a satirical tale “of a hypochondriac who is willing to marry off his daughter to a physician to ensure himself a lifetime of medical treatments,” according to a news release from LCHS’s Troupe de Wolfe Productions.
“It’s got such modern themes even though it was written 330 years ago,” said director Sandra Seaton, theater teacher at Lake City. Students in her international baccalaureate theater class last year read the play, written by French playwright Moliere, and loved it so much they wanted to act it out for an audience.
The cast is small – 12 students – allowing for more elaborate costumes. They’ve been working on the play since the second day of school.
Seaton said the play’s themes reflect modern day happenings quite well, such as “the idea of how the system seems to bait you and you always end up having to pay a lot of money for something is there,” she said. “I don’t think my students understand that part of it, but they certainly understand the funny incidents that happen as part of it.”
Junior Cory Williamson plays the lead role of Argan. Senior Cat Seaton plays Toinette, the other lead; senior Emily Schneider plays Angelique; senior Brianna Hayes plays Beline and senior Phil Siemens plays Beralde. Sophomore Madi Daigh and 2007 LCHS graduate Jett Bingman designed the set.
“Anybody that is up for a good language, they should come and see it,” Seaton said. But, she warned, “It’s really not intended for really young audiences … it’s going to go way over their heads. The audience needs to be just a tiny bit older than toddlers.”
Tickets will be available beginning Monday at the Lake City front office, or at the door on the day of the performance. Tickets are $5 or $3 for students with identification. Show times are 7 p.m. Oct 18 through 20 and Oct. 25 through 27.