Bullitt County has a rich agricultural tradition and is currently trending towards suburban growth. With many kids having family living and working on the farm but also living primarily in suburban areas of the county, Bullitt County Extension and their partners (Roby and Lebanon Junction Family Resource Centers (FRC), Farm Bureau and Soil Conservation) collaborated and formed a Home and Farm Safety Day to address safety concerns and provide accident prevention education for students in our county. This event exposes local children to the possible dangers in their local environments in an interactive and fun atmosphere in an attempt to help keep them safe.  

This September, we hosted 375 4th grade students from Lebanon Junction and Roby Elementary schools to participate in our Bullitt County Home and Farm Safety Day. The kids were engaged in 10 educational stations throughout the day and learned about safe practices on the farm and at home.  This year safety stations included: ATV, tractor, outdoor and wild animal, electrical, water, fire, mower, firearm, livestock and bike safety. Forty five local community members and volunteers including water and power company representatives, school personnel, and first-responders from the fire and police departments. Soil conservation, Bernheim Forest, Future Farmers of America and others were involved in implementing the program. 

Date collected from last year’s program collected via survey reflected that:

- 96% learned at least one new practice to be safer at home

-74% feel they can help identify an unsafe area quicker

-88% feel comfortable telling their friend and family of how to be safer at home

Students also reported to their teachers that they should “Wear helmets and be careful around tractors and ATVs.” Another student said, “I’m going to not jump on the tractor when my dad is on it and never sit in the bucket.”  Many other student were noted to have reported learning new safety facts that they could apply to their current home situations.  One of the teachers reported, "Farm Safety Day was great! I loved the presentation from the electric company. I feel that is was effective at teaching the students how to stay safe around electricity."

The FRC director reported, "My teachers loved the program! They said their students learned so much and their students were so engaged. The teachers thought it was great that their students got to hear from community members and they loved the real world application. "