For more than 35 years, MGE has provided its free “Switch to Safety” classroom programs to area elementary schools. “Switch to Safety” is a 30-minute, electric safety tabletop demonstration for fourth-grade students. The program centerpiece is Hazard Hamlet®, an energized tabletop city where both outdoor and indoor electric safety scenarios are demonstrated with instructions on how to safely respond in an electrical emergency. Each scenario arcs and sparks when the characters in the simulator violate safety rules, creating a memorable learning experience. About 2,000 students participate in the program each year plus those who attend a number of other MGE-sponsored community safety events, such as Safety Saturday, National Night Out and Safety Town.

Flossie Baryenbruch, MGE’s electric safety consultant, presents “Switch to Safety” in area schools. She is a retired elementary teacher with more than 30 years of teaching experience in the Madison Metropolitan School District. She demonstrates a variety of scenarios, including downed power lines, auto accidents involving live electricity, digging into underground wires, illegal entry into electric substations, use of corded appliances on wet surfaces, flying kites near overhead electric lines, overloaded outlets and other indoor safety scenarios. Participating students and teachers receive a variety of follow-up materials, including the “Switch to Safety” Activity Book and the Scratch and Sniff gas odor safety card.

To schedule “Switch to Safety” for your classroom, contact Flossie Baryenbruch at bflossie1@gmail.com or (608) 277-9323 or Mario Garcia Sierra at eduservices@mge.com or (608) 252-7091. Back to Cover