The Kindergarten class of Floris Elementary took part in the 18th annual Big Truck Day on Tuesday, June 4, in the school parking lot. Put on by parent volunteers, the event is held at the end of every school year for kindergarten students to personally interact with a variety of trucks and their drivers.
Thirty-one drivers brought 20 trucks this year, ranging from fire and police vehicles to cement mixers to a John Deere tractor. The event serves as the culmination of a yearlong lesson in transportation for kindergarten students at Floris. The importance of traffic safety and transportation in the community is emphasized, with Big Truck Day allowing the students to see firsthand the vehicles, their functions and their operators.
The sound of truck horns echoed through the parking lot as students traveled from vehicle to vehicle with parent volunteers. They tried on gear, got behind the wheel and intermingled with the truck drivers, who were enjoying the event just as much as the students. At one point they were even able to watch as kindergarten teacher Kat Clifford was raised 40 feet in the air by a bucket truck.
The sacrifices each organization makes to participate in the event each year is not lost on Clifford, who has worked at Floris for the past 16 years. “This is their job,” she explained. “Companies have to let go of workers and pay for gas for them to be here. A lot of the turnout every year depends on the economy, so some years we have more, some years less.” With a veritable fleet of vehicles filling the parking lot, however, the attendance was impressive. “This year is definitely more,” she added.