WHEN to stand firm and when to go with the flow is one of the lessons Richmond North Public School students will be learning as a result of a grant from NRMA Richmond.
The business gave out a total of almost $9000 last week at the Windsor Street branch to the school and a rural fire brigade as part of its community grant program.
Richmond North Public School scored $4775 for a social behaviour project.
Principal Brad Thurling, who was there with students Anna Grayndler and Jake McGowan, said ‘‘as kids get older, a lot of problems come from feeling disconnected.
As they move to high school they become bigger problems. So we thought ‘what can we do?’.
‘‘One of the programs we came across was the Rock and Water program which has been very successful. The program teaches when to be a rock and stand firm and when to be water and go with the flow.
‘‘The people who have problems quite often are boys and this program has martial arts aspects to it and lots of parts that have a physical basis. So this grant has enabled us to get some training and the course materials and videos. Also we will produce a video of the first group that goes through and make it available to other schools.’’
Oakville Bush Fire Brigade scored $4000 to buy four safety suspension harnesses to prevent falls during emergency responses to events such as hailstorms, and several members of the brigade came along when the presentation was made.
Senior deputy Andrew Rutter said the new harnesses would result in a much better response to weather events.
‘‘We can now have six people working on it on three trucks in three separate locations and all our guys can return home safely.’’
Brigade member Alex Blair modelled one of the new harnesses at the presentation while brigade members Kathy Rutter, Cheryl Peick and Ross Hill watched with amusement.
