PUBLIC EDUCATION ADVISORY COUNCIL
GENERAL MEETING
March 12, 2008
Middlesex County Fire Academy – Sayerville, NJ
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan DeTrolio, Bob Yaiser, Justin Lizza, Joyce Lynch, Ian Gill, Andrew Scheidler, Marc Kiempisty, Vincent Corsaro, Ralph Castellano, Scott McKnight, Anthony Alfano.
DIVISION OF FIRE SAFETY STAFF: Charles Lavin, Jerry Clark, Charlie Luxton.
Chairman Daniel DeTrolio called the meeting to order at 10:08 AM.
II. NOVELTY LIGHTER BILL
Chairman DeTrolio informed the Public Education Advisory Council members that the last meeting (1/15/09) was cancelled due to his need to testify in Trenton regarding the new Novelty Lighters Bill. Himself, Commissioner Paul Hartstein, and Commissioner C. Kenneth Anderson all gave testimony that day against the sale of novelty lighters in the State of New Jersey.
This bill, which was spear-headed by the Juvenile Firesetters Prevention Council, is geared toward stopping the sale of Novelty Lighters. These types of lighters are made to appeal to children in the way that they look like toys, candy, keychains, etc. The bill is currently a work in progress in Trenton and is being sponsored by Assemblyman Wisniewski.
III. RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
In the absence of Alan Musicant, no report was given.
Charles Lavin reported that the New Jersey FIRE Bowl is alive and well for 2009. Despite the struggling economy, the FIRE Bowl’s sponsors have come up extremely strong this year in keeping the program afloat. This includes the tremendous support of Joshua Marcus Group’s Marc Kiempisty, who has provided all of the awards and medals for the second straight year. Also, Hartz Mountain, via Dan DeTrolio, will be sponsoring the trip to Middlesex Fire Academy for all the participating students.
A few key dates for this year’s FIRE Bowl program include:
March 31st – Trip to Middlesex Fire Academy for all participants
First week of April – Written Competitions in various school districts.
May 19th – Final event at Kean University
Charles reported that this year’s final program would be held at the theater facility at Kean University. The top two teams in the State will compete there on May 19th to determine the 2009 State Champion. Teams entering this year’s competition are from Bayonne, Belleville, Camden, and Carteret School Districts.
Charles Lavin reported that the New Jersey Fire Safety Poster Contest was moving along as scheduled. All entries are due to the County Coordinators by March 15th. The counties will then have a month to pick their winners. The State will begin collecting the winning entries from each county on April 16th.
Charlie Luxton reported that, despite economic conditions, Kidde has again donated 15,000 smoke detectors to the State of New Jersey through the WABC-7 Operation Save-A-Life program. The kick-off breakfast was well-run and well-attended despite the extreme weather that day. Mr. Luxton expects to receive the smoke detectors within the next few weeks and will distribute them from there.
VII. JUVENILE FIRESETTERS
In the absence of Charlie Luxton, no report was given. However, Bob Yaiser reported that this year’s 6th Annual Juvenile Firesetters Conference would be held at the Middlesex County Fire Academy on December 4-5, 2008.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
Vincent Corsaro spoke about his two-hour fire safety program that he runs at his local high school in Jefferson Township. The program is geared toward preparing high school seniors for the fire dangers they must be aware of in college (namely out-of-state) and the rest of their lives. Mr. Corsaro will forward the PowerPoint program to the rest of the Council. Also, Bob Yaiser brought up a new computer program he’d discovered on the internet. It is a Jeopardy-style program by C3 Software, and it can be used as a great teaching tool for kids when it’s prepared with fire safety questions.
The next meeting of the Public Education Advisory Council is scheduled to take place at 10 A.M. on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Middlesex County Fire Academy. It will be a joint meeting with the Juvenile Firesetters Prevention Advisory Council.