A R T S , E D U C AT I O N & I N N O VAT I O N
CLASS ACT Livingston Elementary School third-grader Reniya Ritter rescued her family from a potential tragedy in October, not long after receiving life-saving instruction from Newton County Fire Service officials. by CHRIS BRIDGES Reniya Ritter has proven herself as an attentive young student beyond any doubt. The Livingston Elementary School third-grader is also proficient at breaking age barriers, as she was recently named an honorary firefighter by Newton County Fire Service officials. It was a well-earned distinction. The past few months have been harrowing at times for Reniya, but through it all, she has shown the importance of listening, learning and taking action when the situation demands it. She helped save the lives of several family members during a house fire on Oct. 16, putting the lessons she learned in a fire safety class into practice. “I learned how to get out of a house or a truck when there’s smoke in there,” Reniya said, “and I learned how to be a good firefighter.” Newton County Fire Safety Specialist James Franklin always hopes young students are listening when he and his department make their presentations for classes. “We teach the class over a two-day period,” he said. “We watched a video that taught them what to do in the event of a fire, and then we talked about matches and lighters and the importance of not playing with them. We talked about the importance of having working smoke alarms in the house, and then we moved to the back of our trailer, where we can
46 The Newton Community Magazine
actually practice what we’ve learned. We fill up the room full of smoke and have the children practice crawling outside to a meeting place. We teach them to go home and ask their parents, ‘Where would we meet if there was a fire?’” The presentation caught Reniya’s attention. When she returned home after school, she was eager to talk about what she had learned. Her mother, Nikia, remembers those discussions. “When she got home, she explained that the fire department came to her school,” she said. “She went over the drill, even climbing on her knees to show how to get out of the house. She also talked about sparkles that you might see in a fire.” Reniya was encouraged to immediately report any colorful sparks or the smell of smoke to an adult. No one could have imagined that the family’s rental house would catch fire just days later. As a result of her quick thinking and the lessons she learned in the class, Reniya and her family escaped the fire virtually unharmed. Although they lost their home, they still had each other. No one suffered serious physical injuries, but some had to deal with the effects of smoke inhalation. The mental toll has been far more difficult, as the family lost many priceless personal items like photos, including those of late loved ones.
