Starting on Monday May 13th, and over the course of a few days, the 4th grades of Caln Elementary School took a walking tour of Caln starting with the township building, police station and finishing up at the Thorndale Fire Company.

The morning started off with the 4th grade classes being escorted by the Thorndale Fire Police to the Caln Township building for a civics lesson, in which every student took part in role playing a township monthly business meeting. The mock meeting was in regards to the proposal of a new skate park in the township. The students played the roles of the township commissioners, managers, finance director, parents, township residents, those for the skate park and those against. The students were able to see first hand, however brief, how things are decided and were able to hear arguments and procedures to grasp an understanding of how special projects like this come to fruition.

After the meeting was adjourned, the class was led to the Caln Police station for tour of the offices, holding cell, evidence room, radio room and a police car. While at the station, the students were able to see some of the weaponry the Caln police use and were instructed on how dangerous they can be if not respected and handled properly. A tour of the patrol car yielded some loud sirens and bright emergency lights.

The class finished up the morning back at the Thorndale Fire Company, where they were able to talk to an EMT, see the gear a firefighter wears, try on a helmet and flow some water from Engine 38-1 on a simulated house fire prop. After that, a tour of Rescue 38 and the class was dismissed.

A Very Special Thanks must be given to Tony Scheivert, Assistant Twp Manager for taking time out of his busy week to orchestrate the mornings events and personally showing the students the inner workings of township business. Thank you to the Caln PD for taking time out from their schedules as well as the volunteers from the fire company. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the break from their normal routine.