For the past 15 years, Disney has reached more than one billion families through its Disney Wild About Safety program, which provides families and teachers with the resources they need to develop interactive and memorable safety curriculum for children worldwide. In honor of this milestone, Disney brought more than 60 Osceola County Public School students from Thacker Avenue Elementary School for International Studies and Central Avenue Elementary School to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park for an interactive day of learning.
The students and their teachers learned about safe behavior and decision-making, including what they can do to help make sure the land, water and air around them is clean and safe. They also observed the fascinating worlds of environmental safety and animal behavior.
“Learning works best when learning is fun,” said Tajiana Ancora-Brown, director of external affairs at Walt Disney World Resort. “Bringing some of our community’s youngest members out to Animal Kingdom to observe environmental safety and animal behavior allowed them to observe real-world impacts of their lessons learned.”
Established in 2003 in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories (UL)—a world-renowned safety organization—Disney’s Wild About Safety is brought to life by program mascots Timon and Pumbaa from Disney’s The Lion King. Through curriculum that includes activity books, an animated video series, and illustrated safety tip cards, the pair shows kids how to stay safe whether at home, at play or a theme park. Through empowering youth to make safety smart decisions, their knowledge and behavior is impacted for years to come.
“There’s something special about bringing students out of the classroom for an educational experience,” said Dr. Debra Pace, superintendent of the Osceola School District. “And when that place is Disney, their excitement and eagerness to learn is amplified tenfold.”
Select Wild About Safety curriculum, including the environmental programming enjoyed by the students during their visit, has been recognized with the Teacher’s Choice and Parent’s Choice Awards. The anniversary celebration will continue later this week when similar safety curriculum is shared with students at Tupperware Brands Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida.
A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.
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