QUINCY — Police sirens and truck horns ran out in the North Quincy High School parking lot Tuesday, but the ambulances, fire trucks and police cars weren’t speeding off toward an emergency.
Instead, 165 students in Quincy Public Schools’ summer special education program got to climb into the vehicles of first responders to honk the horns and learn about public safety at a touch-a-truck even.
Tracy Phelan, co-facilitator of the special education summer programs, said that students from kindergarten through age 22 were in attendance. Phelan said that the event was a fun way to get the students out of the classroom and interacting with law enforcement officers.
“It’s a great chance for Quincy to reach out and share its resources,” Phelan said.
To kick off the morning’s activities, students filed out of the high school to watch in awe as a State Police helicopter took off from Creedon Field. Before the helicopter flew away, the students listened to the pilots talk about their missions and students had the chance to ask questions.
Jaythan Figueroa, who will be entering grade 11 this fall, said he’d never seen a helicopter up close before and was excited to see it take off.
Edwin Astronomo, a rising senior, also said he was excited to see the police cars and helicopter.
“It’s going to be really cool,” Edwin said.
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Robert Sweetland, school resource officer at North Quincy High School, reached out to local law enforcement and other organizations back in May to invite them to participate. Sweetland said that no one turned down his invitation.
“It’s great to build a bond and not be afraid of the uniforms,” Sweetland said about the students’ chance to talk to officers.
Eleven trucks lined up in the parking lot, representing various departments and companies: State Police, Quincy Special Operations, Sean Farrell Excavation, National Grid, Quincy Fire Rescue, Quincy Police, Brewster Ambulance, Quincy DPW and the Quincy Parks Department.
Students checked out all the gear packed into the ambulance and even had a chance to spray the firetruck’s hose.
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Katie McCabe, of the Brookline Police Department, stood with a comfort dog named Bear as students bent down to pet the calm animal. Students kept returning to spend time with the four comfort dogs that came to the event.
Tom Patton, who works for Quincy DPW, stood by a snowplow and showed students how to honk the horn.
“I think it’s fantastic they do this for the kids,” Patton said.
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To reach Katherine Canniff, email kcanniff@patriotledger.com