The flashing of lights and blare of sirens interrupted a usually quiet morning routine at Putnam County Primary School (PCPS) Oct. 6, as first responders and community service personnel slowly drove their vehicles past students and teachers in full gear.
“It’s all about making sure the community sees the kids, and the kids get to see the people that work in their community,” said Brandy Parham, the first-grade teacher who organized the Community Helper Parade.
Schoolchildren learn about community services in their social studies lessons, and Parham said in the years before Covid hit, the fire department, police department, and Emergency Medical Services brought their vehicles to PCPS each October. Kids could get inside, talk to the first responders and learn how they worked.
“Last year we thought that, instead of having the contact, [community services] could come in a parade, then the kids would still get to see them and experience the excitement,” Parham explained. “Last year was the first year we did it, and it was only for kindergarten. This year, the entire school, including Head Start, came out for it.”
Parham said that she organized this year’s event in cooperation with Eatonton Fire Chief Eugene Hubert. She added that the Eatonton Fire Department provided kindergarten classes with firefighter hats, activity books and other goodies. Holder Plumbing gave out bracelets, with several other parade participants handing out candy.
“Some consequences of COVID are not a bad thing. When we had one police officer, one firefighter and one representative of EMS, only one person from each of those departments got to interact with the children,” Parham said.
“By doing the parade, multiple members of those departments get to see the kids. Even though they’re not interacting one-on-one, it’s still nice to do this for the children just to have the excitement. We love to see the community support our students.”
Services that participated in the parade included the Eatonton Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, Eatonton Fire Department, the Putnam County Fire Department, Putnam County EMS, Putnam County school buses, Putnam County Primary School Guest Services, Taylor’s Wrecker Service, Holder Plumbing, Putnam County Animal Control and Fellowship Home residences.