• Over 280 students attended.

Fifth grade students from Osmond, Etna and Cokeville Elementary Schools attended the third annual Simplot Safety Day on Monday, September 9 at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in Afton. With their administrators and teachers, over 280 students attended the event.

Community members from throughout Star Valley partnered with officials and employees of Simplot Smoky Canyon Mine to offer instruction about safety protocols in over 10 life activities where safety training is critical for students to know and fully understand.

Several years ago, when Simplot personnel in Caldwell, Idaho were concerned with the number of local youth fatalities caused by a lack of knowledge and training in life-activities, the Safety Team determined to create a program specifically to educate youth about safety in a variety of activities that are part of everyday living.

“At Smoky Canyon, we have safety training weekly,” explained Brandon Titensor, who serves as Safety Supervisor at Smoky Canyon Mine.  “We have a ton of safety training, but as a kid you don’t get a lot of safety training. We thought, as a company, we’d go out and help try to save lives within the younger generation.”

Simplot personnel in Caldwell created a program that brought fifth grade students together for a day of safety training. They also invite third grade students to experience a tour of the mine. Once Caldwell created the template, the practice quickly spread to other communities. Simplot officials approached LCSD No. 2 Superintendent, Matt Erickson, who immediately threw his full support behind the program, facilitating the training of LCSD No. 2 fifth graders for the last three years. Smoky Canyon has also taken the event to Bear Lake fifth grade students for two years.

“Simplot provides all the funding and materials for the event and invites local community services to participate. The Star Valley High School FFA helps host by escorting groups of students through the event as they rotate from one instruction zone to the next.

“Simplot’s big in agriculture, too, and we thought, ‘who better to help us than the FFA?’ Caldwell FFA started the tradition, which stands here as well. “We made the phone call to the FFA here and they gladly jumped in and are helping us out with everything today” just as they have in the past.

Volunteers from service organizations throughout the community were on hand to demonstrate and instruct students, answer questions, and encourage students to make wise and informed choices as they move through their life experiences.

Adults in attendance found the training helpful as well. “As adults, a lot of the teachers have come to us and said, ‘We really didn’t know that about canal safety,” Titensor shared. Idaho is ranked second in the nation for child canal drowning fatalities. “Idaho is just over the hill and is home to Simplot. Canal safety is very important to us. It’s an unsafe place to swim, unless you do it right, so that’s what we’re doing with these kids. In Idaho and Wyoming, we cover Gun Safety, because most of these kids have guns in their homes or have been around them. Some people don’t believe in teaching that, but we do. We feel like Gun Safety, even if you don’t own a gun, is important. At least you know what a gun is about and how to handle one safely. The other big one is Cyber Safety. The things that can happen on social media and all through the internet are scary. The kids may not pay as much attention to that one, but that’s the one they really need to key on in on.”

Students learned about safety in the following activities:

Water Safety presented by Smokey Canyon Safety Committee

Fire Safety presented by Afton Fire Department

Electrical Safety presented by Lower Valley Energy

Bus Safety Bus Safety presented by LCSD No. 2 Transportation Department

ATV and Snowmobile Safety presented by Salt River Motors.

Tractor Safety presented by Lawrence Welch of Logan, Utah.

Animal safety presented by Smokey Canyon Mine Safety Committee.

Bike Safety presented by Smokey Canyon Management.

Gun safety presented by Gunsmith Jensen Odie.

First Aid and Response presented by Star Valley EMS.

Nutrients for Life presented by Simplot Corporation.

Cyber Safety presented by LCSD No. 2 Counselors.