Student-turned-teacher brings 'Safety Town' back to New Kensington

Thirty years ago, when she was 5, Lauren Lanzino learned safety lessons she never forgot.

Now, the student has become the teacher, with Lanzino bringing Safety Town back to New Kensington after an 11-year absence.

“Everybody I know that has ever done this program loved this program,” Lanzino, 35, of New Kensington said Monday at Mary Queen of Apostles School, where Safety Town began its weeklong run at the school’s outdoor classroom.

“We wanted to bring it back to the community.”

With the participation of police, firefighters and paramedics, Safety Town focuses on issues such as fire safety, stranger danger, calling 911, poisonous items, street signs and road safety.

Thirty children ages 4 and 5 are enrolled in the sold-out morning session, with another 15 attending in the evenings. They will graduate Friday.

Linda Henkel, who taught Safety Town, a national program, from 1985 until 2013, plans to attend one of the graduation ceremonies.

Henkel, 74, of Lower Burrell figures nearly 3,000 children went through Safety Town while she taught it, two years past her retirement in 2011 from the New Kensington-Arnold School District, where she had taught kindergarten and first grade.

It was founded in New Kensington by Janet Casper and Jennifer Salatka through the Citizens General Hospital Women’s Auxiliary and the New Kensington YMCA. Salatka worked at the hospital, where Henkel volunteered on weekends. Salatka knew Henkel was a teacher and got her involved in Safety Town.

When she taught Safety Town, Henkel said, it ran for two weeks and the children were a year older, ages 5 and 6. Most years, sessions were held in June and July; one year, there was so much interest that it was also held in August.

It came to an end as interest declined, with Henkel entering her retirement and not having anyone to pass it to.

Enter Lanzino, who called Henkel a couple of months ago about bringing the program back.

“I’m so admiring of this girl. She wanted to bring back what she experienced through our program,” Henkel said. “That meant that we really made a difference — far more than I had ever thought this program would go.

“I never thought they would remember it that way. I was just so grateful and so appreciative she would be the one to carry it on.”

Lanzino teaches the class with the help of her cousin, Marissa Ameris, a social and emotional behavior specialist in the Burrell School District, and volunteer students from St. Joseph and Burrell high schools.

The program’s hallmark is the “Safety Town,” a scaled-down model of a real town, where children are taught to safely cross streets, follow street signs properly and drive pedal cars around the town.

“We had to start from scratch,” Lanzino said. “There was nothing left of the program. We needed everything.”

Her husband, Gino Lanzino, and stepfather, Phillip Coury, built the buildings and the family painted them. They display the names of local business sponsors, such as Ameris Tae Kwon Do, Coury Construction, Laborers Local 1058, Mary Queen of Apostles School and Valos Chocolates. One resembles Mount St. Peter Church.

Previously the chair of health science at La Roche University, Lanzino recently resigned to become an associate professor in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, where she starts Aug. 15.

Her son, Nino, 4, is taking the Safety Town course this year. Her daughter, Maria, is 2.

“I want him to know all this,” she said. “All these kids were very excited today. It’s going to be a great experience for them.”

Alli Lepish, 37, of Oakmont also remembers attending Safety Town in New Kensington. Her son, Auggie, 5, is in the morning session.

“It’s like a core memory for me as an adult. I’m so happy they brought it back,” she said, adding that her 3-year-old, Blaine, will go next year.

And it sounds like Blaine will get that chance.

“We hope to do this every year now,” Lanzino said. “Safety Town is back in New Kensington.”