The students of PS 253 won $10,000 last week for strutting their stuff in the name of safety.
The Brighton Beach kids were winners of the Kidsmartz Safety Dance Contest, a nationwide dance video competition aimed to teach kids about safety and abduction prevention.
Schools across the country made videos of students dancing and signing safety-minded lyrics to the ’80s New Wave hit “Saftey Dance” by Men Without Hats, and PS 253 won for the Northeast Region.
The contest was the brainchild of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and bankrolled by Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the charitable arm of the aerospace conglomerate as a fun way to teach kids about a serious topic.
Honeywell reps said they succeeded in making safety a blast.
“The teachers that were part of putting it together said it was probably one of the nicest campaigns to work with the kids,” said Honeywell director Kerry Kennedy. “The kids actually participated in putting the video together and they said it was a phenomenal experience. We look to educators to tell us the best way to teach the kids.”
The videos were judged on their ability to educate and engage kids on the four rules of safety: check first, take a friend, tell people “no,” tell a trusted adult — Kennedy said and the kids of PS 253 could really break it down.
“They were fabulous,” said Kennedy. “They were so thrilled that they were part of the program and they learned so much.”
The school received a $10,000 in a ceremony last week, and the funds will go towards the humanities department, with plans to find new ways to promote safety within their own school in beyond.
