Raising Awareness about Carbon Monoxide through Youthful Creativity
Carbon Monoxide is often referred to as the Silent Killer because you can’t see, hear, smell, touch or taste it. When we started our work to bring awareness to this under-represented menace, we looked for — and found — a variety of creative solutions that arose over the years as we have engaged with thousands of young artists and other naturally creative young people. These are some beautiful successes that have emerged from our efforts to give the Silent Killer a voice and shine a light on it to give it the awareness it needs.
One of our earliest and simplest attempts to bridge our dual mission of engaging youth in the arts and carbon monoxide awareness was this simple coloring page.
Chillbe was Lindsey’s canine companion who died along with her from carbon monoxide. LOK has dubbed Chillbe our safety mascot. This page can easily be printed out and made available for young children during events. Encouraging them to “keep their dreams safe” is a gentle way to introduce the idea of protection to them. It is our hope that parents will see these pages and be inspired to take action to protect their homes from carbon monoxide.
Coloring Pages for Young Children
Safe Home Program
This program was developed by Lubeznik Center for the Arts, another of our arts partners. They developed a program in conjunction with the local fire department where kids are given a template to draw an emergency plan for “what happens if…?” They learn about proper placement of a carbon monoxide alarm, etc. The collected posters hang in a display during our Annual Young Artist Expo and later are returned to kid’s families to hang on their refrigerator as a valuable reference document.
Carbon Monoxide Interpretive Dance
South Shore Dance Alliance, one of our arts partners, came up with this choreography to convey the dangers of carbon monoxide to a standing room only audience at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts during our Annual Young Artists Expo. The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. High levels of CO exposure can cause loss of consciousness and death. We feel their interpretation through their movements.
Teen Leadership Curriculum
Carbon Monoxide Awareness Program
We introduced a 5-day program developed for teens that perpares them to lead a public safety event where they are the experts about carbon monoxide safety. They receive tips from an improv actor that helps them develop confidence in public speaking and engaging with the public, an idea that grew out of a workshop we held for the Bloomington Boys & Girls Club’s Lindsey O’Brien Kesling Performing Arts Program. Additionally, the teems engage their visual arts skills to create posters for use during the public event.
By the end of the week, the students have the skills, the knowledge and the visuals they need to conduct an effective and potentially life saving carbon monoxide awareness event in their community.
