Marietta Police Department's School Resource Officer Rob Sury and K-9 Phoenix doing a demonstration for Safetytown at Phillips Elementary on Monday. A student gives Phoenix a treat. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

MARIETTA – The 49th year of Safetytown at Phillips Elementary looked a little different for day six due to the intermittent rain storms on Monday.

The usual outdoor activities were brought inside but the kindergartens didn’t seem to mind.

Safetytown at Phillips began June 15 and will conclude on June 25 with a graduation program in the evening.

There were nearly 150 kindergarteners who attended this year with the majority of the students in the morning session from 9 a.m. to noon and some attending in the afternoon session from 1-4 p.m.

Katherine Carr, a second grade teacher at Phillips, said the theme for day six was “don’t play with matches” and included appearances from the Marietta Fire Department.

“We have a lot of guests every day,” she said.

Day six of Safetytown included workshops and safety courses in the classroom and demonstrations from firemen with the fire department and Marietta Police Department’s School Resource Officer Rob Sury and his K-9 Phoenix.

Carr said Safetytown remains routine each year with adjustments as the times change. She said this year there are some classes about internet safety as a way to remind the volunteers and introduce the youth to safe online habits.

“It’s a way to get them started, and it’s probably a good review for our volunteers,” said Carr. “We don’t go into too much detail on it just enough to let them know that they need to be safe on the internet and their parents should be monitoring what they’re doing.”

Students who apply and attend Safetytown will go through a nine-day course with different learning modules each day. The modules focus on road safety, stranger danger, playing outside, swimming safety, fire and electrical danger, and more.

“I have done Safetytown for a long time and I think I just enjoy watching how much they truly understand what you teach them,” said Carr. “We present so much and we try to do it in a nice way and we try to be very serious about it.”

The kids learn what to do and how to avoid certain situations with videos, hands-on and interactive activities. Carr said Safetytown is entirely free for the students to attend and they receive funding support from local groups, fundraisers, and the Rotary Club of Marietta.

“There’s a lot of support from the community,” she said. “This year, Stoked Coffee was helping provide the snacks one day because they’re with the rotary.”

Carr said all of the volunteers were provided with a free drink at Stoked for volunteering their time. Many of the volunteers had been in Safetytown when they were five years old and are currently around middle school age.

“It’s so nice to see that our community sees the value in Safetytown,” she said.

Although the kids couldn’t participate in the usual outdoor traffic and street activities in the parking lot, they engaged in different activities with local law enforcement.

The firemen brought the kids outside to look at the fire trucks and showed them the gear they wear when putting out a fire.

SRO Sury showed the kids his gear and Phoenix demonstrated a few tricks for the kids.

“This is her second year at Safetytown,” said Sury. Phoenix is a bernedoodle trained to keep the students at the school district safe.

SOR Sury patrols the Marietta High School, Marietta Elementary School, Phillips Elementary, Washington Elementary, Veritas Academy, and Saint Mary’s School with Phoenix at his side.

“She comes to the school with me so when you guys start school this year she’ll come with me and visit you guys,” he said.

Students had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the officer’s gear and get comfortable and Phoenix.

Safetytown will conclude Thursday with a graduation ceremony at 7 p.m. at the Marietta High School.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com