For Immediate Release

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Jefferson Elementary School Student Earns Young Hero Award for Lifesaving Actions

ROCKLAND — Jefferson Elementary School Principal Michelle Scheufele is pleased to announce the Rockland Fire Department honored first grade student Ariana Medina for her life-saving actions.

During a ceremony on Wednesday, June 21, Medina was presented with the department’s Young Hero Award. Earlier this year, through the Rockland Fire Department’s Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) program, Firefighter Scott Margolis visited the school to talk to students about the importance of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Following the presentation, Medina went home and found that four of the seven smoke detectors in her house did not work and asked that her family immediately replace them.

Several weeks later, a fire started in her family’s pellet stove and Medina’s family members—who had been working in the basement away from the stove—were alerted to the fire. Everyone was able to escape the home safely and firefighters arrived on scene to quickly extinguish the blaze, limiting the damage.

“Without Ariana’s proactive decision to check her family’s smoke detectors after learning how important they are, her family members would not have been alerted to the fire in their home,” Principal Scheufele said. “Her actions no doubt had a huge impact on her family and helped avoid what could have been a tragic outcome.”

Each year, students learn critical fire safety skills thanks to the SAFE program, which is headed by Firefighter Margolis, and Medina is the second student to earn the Young Hero Award after participating in the SAFE program.

“I am so proud of Ariana for taking one of the most basic but essential lessons about fire safety and immediately applying it at her home,” Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron said. “Her experience is a great reminder of how important it is to teach fire safety in the schools, and the district is grateful for the SAFE program and the huge impact it has on our students and their families.”

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