Firefighters at the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi presented an educational program about fire management to students at Hinchcliffe Elementary School in O’Fallon, Illinois last Friday. You may be wondering if they drove 406 miles (Google directions) to O’Fallon. No, they didn’t. They used Skype to send live video to the children who had been studying wildfire and were excited to have real wildland firefighters speak to their class.
The firefighters set up the connection outside the National Park Service Visitor Center in Tupelo, Mississippi so that the students could see the fire truck and equipment. This Skype session was the first for both Hinchcliffe Elementary School and the Natchez Trace Parkway. The students were able to interact and ask questions during the 30-minute session.
This seems like a great way to contact a lot of school children at little or no cost, during a time when many federal agencies are working with depleted budgets.
