Sugar Creek and Meredith Nicholson elementary schools were awarded the Fire Drill Safety Award on Tuesday.
The award celebrates one school in the North Montgomery and the Crawfordsville school districts that performs the best during an observed fire drill. The schools each win $200 and the traveling trophy for the year.
The awards are given during Fire Prevention Week.
Mark Evans, Crawfordsville Fire Department’s Division Chief of Code Enforcement, came up with the competition in the late 90s. He saw how students behaved and reacted during fire drills and he knew something needed to change. Evans said students just weren’t taking the drills seriously and there was no sense of urgency.
He knew there had been some awards given out in the 80s, but there hadn’t been anything like that in a long time. He was also inspired by another traveling trophy competition, “The County Keg.” The County Keg was awarded to Montgomery County basketball teams competing against each other from 1957 to 1971.
Evans said the contest wouldn’t be where it is without the contributions from Crawfordsville Professional Firefighters Local 4143, the firefighter’s union.
Throughout the year the union hosts events and fundraisers to better serve the community, but a significant part of funding for contests like these come directly from members of the union. Jason Starcher, a lieutenant at CFD and part of the union, estimates the total spent at the end of the year is nearly $20,000.
Evans said that fire drills have changed over the years, they are even more necessary.
“Now it’s an evacuation drill,” he said.
The danger the drills are preparing students and staff for isn’t just isn’t about fires anymore, Evan said.
These drills are now predominantly preparing students and staff on how to react and get out of the building safely when there is an active shooter or intruder.
Sugar Creek’ Principal Cris McCoy accepted the award with the school’s student council members.
McCoy said the most important thing about fire drills is being able to safely evacuate the students and staff as quickly as possible.
They do drills at least once a month and she attributes the school’s successful fire drills to collaborative efforts.
On the day of the fire drill that led to Sugar Creek’s victory, McCoy wasn’t at school. She said her staff was able to step up and take her place, following all of the procedures they had practiced so many times before and impressing Evans and the Crawfordsville Professional Firefighters Local 4143 union.
Resource officers also are a big part of fire drills today, they are present at the schools throughout the day to keep students and staff safe. These officers also take multiple safety classes and other training to help lead the fire drills.
Nicholson Principal Jennifer Hall also commented on how fire drills have changed over the years.
“Well, when I was teaching for a lot of it, it was, like, as soon as you heard the fire alarm, you exit. Now we do what’s called a delay drill, where you get into a sheltered place and wait for the all clear so that we’re sure that it is safe to exit,” Hall said.
Hall gathered all of her school’s students and staff into the gymnasium to celebrate with them, congratulating them for the joined effort they put into having successful drills.
The schools are able to use the money awarded for whatever they choose, in the past they have had pizza parties and purchased more books for the library.
