Magic tricks, a talking duck, a chance to shine on stage — it wasn’t the typical day at Keyser Primary Middle School Tuesday, as students in Kindergarten through fourth grade participated in the Deputy Phil safety program hosted by Creative Safety Solutions spokesman Mike Eakins, a.k.a. “Mr. Mike.”
The ABC’s of safety were presented and covered all aspects of safety, including A for “always be careful,” B for correct “bus and bike safety,” and C for “car and computer safety.”
“When you get in the car, the first thing you do is buckle your seatbelt,” said Eakins, who also emphasized the importance of young students sitting in the backseat until age 12. “When you’re on the computer, you have to be careful. The same way that strangers are out and about, the Internet has strangers on it, too.”
Eakins, who has spoken at all county primary schools as well as at schools in Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey, went over with students various scenarios that they could encounter while surfing the Web.
When asked if students ever logged on to MySpace or Facebook, almost every hand went up in the   audience of Kindergartners and third-graders.
“If someone asks to meet you in person, should you go?” asked Eakins, to an audience that responded with a resounding “no.”
“If someone asks you this, click off right away, and tell an adult,” Eakins said.
Next, Eakins reached into his bag of surprises and pulled out two of his friends in safety: Freddy and Eddie.
He then asked students where the safest place is to walk on the street.
The majority answered the sidewalk, while Eakins took the puppets and said that both Freddy and Eddie know to “look, look, and keep looking until it’s clear and safe to walk.”
Games were played with the students that featured volunteers from the audience.
One of the games was asking two volunteers a multiple choice question about how to behave on a school bus.
Kindergartners Dalton McDonald and Christopher Shafer both said that yelling loudly to your friends was the correct answer.
“The answer is actually sitting quietly at your seat,” said Eakins.
The last act involved a singing and talking duck named Lucky, who told students to always wear their helmets when riding a bike.
Duck jokes were told, which prompted Lucky to tell Eakins his feelings were hurt.
Eakins told students that hurting other people’s feelings was not the right thing to do and that they need to be polite to each other and respect each other.

(See SAFETY, page 7)
“We need to be the very best that we can be,” said Eakins.
Assistant Principal Karen Riley thanked Eakins and the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department for bringing the Deputy Phil program to the school.
“It’s a wonderful program for students to be committed to safety, not only in school but also at home,” said Riley. “With summer coming, we want to make sure they are safe all the time.”
Mineral County Chief Deputy Paul Sabin said the program uses many child-friendly elements that grasp and  maintain students’ attention.
“The Deputy Phil program uses magic and humor to get across the dangers of computers and traffic safety to students,” said Sabin.
Eakins, who is a spokesman for Creative Safety Solutions — a company that has performed over 500 safety programs in 22 states — said he hopes his message showed students ways to stay safe, as well as breaking down the stereotype that police officers are “scary.”
“The deputies are our friends,” said Eakins. “You shouldn’t be afraid  of the cops. They are here to help.” 
After the program, each student received grade-appropriate workbooks to reinforce the safety tips they learned during the program.
For more information on the Deputy Phil program, log on to the child-friendly site www.deputyphil.com