Learn Not to Burn
LNTB is a fire and burn prevention curriculum developed for pre-school through eighth grade by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It has been tested by teachers in more than 50,000 classrooms worldwide since 1979 and is recommended by the National Education Association. Learn Not To Burn education is responsible for saving more than 500 lives nationwide as documented by the NFPA.
By the end of 2000, LNTB had been implemented for pre-school through third grade (the age group most vulnerable to fire and with the most potential for behavior change) in all public elementary schools in Anchorage, Eagle River, Chugiak, and in Elmendorf and Fort Richardson military base schools, representing more than 700 participating teachers. In addition, 118 pre-school teachers and 700 licensed day-care operators in Anchorage had been trained in its use.
In 2001 Denali Safety Council received a $10,000 grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities to implement NFPA curriculum in rural Alaska. Project administrators Niki Pereira and Judy Hagler formed an alliance with Robert Baty, director of the Village Public Safety Officer Program for the Alaska State Troopers. The three attended regional VPSO meetings all over Alaska, told the story of Alaska’s fire problem and what we are doing about it, and offered Learn Not To Burn to school districts through the VPSOs.
As a result, we provided LNTB curriculum to the Bering Straight, Fairbanks/North Star, Kodiak Island, Lake and Peninsula, Lower Kuskokwim, Lower Yukon, Nome City, North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Southwest Regional, Tanana, and Yukon Koyukuk school districts, covering 125 schools.
In 2002 we provided more than a hundred copies of Learn Not To Burn for distribution at the State Foster Parent Conference and the Alaska Family Child Care Association Conference.
In 2003 Judy Hagler contacted all schools that had received LNTB books through the Ronald McDonald grant as part of her routine follow-up for status and results of use of the curriculum in classrooms.
Niki Pereira conducted a Learn Not To Burn class for parents and Judy provided sets of LNTB books to ten families.
Judy also contacted all Anchorage elementary school principals in May and again in October to check on the curriculum’s use.
We now consider this project complete. All schools throughout Alaska that expressed interest in Learn Not To Burn have been provided copies of the curriculum.