Get in the know about CO

[This is a great story...even kids are getting into the fact that carbon monoxide is more dangerous than most people realize]

The Carl W. Goetz Middle School in Jackson, N.J. proves that you’re never too young to teach others about safety.

The 1,300 students of Goetz have launched an ambitious educational campaign about the dangers of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Better still, the students are holding a series of fundraisers to provide free carbon-monoxide detectors to as many nearby homes as possible.

The initiative began last year, after a seventh grader died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator in his home. “We wanted to know why and why he didn’t have a detector,” said eighth grader Kassandra Brady. At the same time, she said, her fellow students wanted as many homes as possible to install CO detectors “so this won’t happen again.”

Under the tutelage of computer technology teacher Deborah Potter and several other teachers, Goetz students made brochures, banners, and video commercials to educate the community about CO poisoning with the catchy slogan “Get in the Know about CO”.

They’ve already held a student-faculty volleyball tournament (the teachers won) and a raffle for a prime parking spot. So far they’ve raised $1,700, but hope to get more money through donations and other planned fundraisers. In the spring, they plan to distribute CO detectors on a first-come, first-serve basis.

That’s a big goal, considering the town has about 20,000 households. But many homes — particularly those with Goetz students — already have detectors.

Eighth grader Jillian Nicholl said she now checks her home’s CO detector “about every two to three months” to make sure it’s working.

Before the Get in the Know campaign, Nicholl said she didn’t have “a clue" what CO was — or what the detector was for. [many adults are the same way about CO]