Honeywell and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Announce Fourth Annual Search for America's 'Safest Teachers'

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) today announced the launch of the fourth annual Got 2B Safe! Awards program, designed to encourage teachers at elementary schools nationwide to help their students learn valuable and potentially life-saving lessons. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 797,500 children younger than 18 were reported missing during a one year period, an average of 2,185 children reported missing each day.

Got 2B Safe! provides teachers child safety teaching tools and rewards teachers who develop the most creative lesson plans are with big prizes. Five teachers win a classroom makeover worth $10,000 and 100 teachers win $500 worth of school supplies. Makeovers include an overall redesign of the classroom with themes chosen by the teachers, and materials including Got 2B Safe! artwork. The Got 2B Safe! Awards program will be open until March 23, 2009. Educators can log on to www.got2bsafe.com for more information about the contest and to submit a brief essay emphasizing the Got 2B Safe! Four Rules of Safety.

"It is crucial to arm our children with positive, empowering skills to help them recognize and avoid potentially dangerous situations," said Tom Buckmaster, president, Honeywell Hometown Solutions. "Participation in the Got 2B Safe! Awards program gives teachers an opportunity to educate their students, parents and community to be smarter about personal safety."

Since 2003, Honeywell and NCMEC have worked together on Got 2B Safe!. The program fills a critical gap -- no other nationwide abduction prevention program exists for schools. Got 2B Safe! focuses on educating eight- to ten-year-olds and their families on how to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation. It arms teachers, parents and guardians with tools to keep children safer. To date, Got 2B Safe! has been distributed to 240,000 principals and teachers, and more than 72,000 schools in the United States- reaching an estimated five million students.

"Teaching children about personal safety should be a priority," said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. "We are excited to be working with Honeywell on the Got 2B Safe! Awards program, to educate teachers, children and the community-at-large about how to prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation."

Got 2B Safe! teaches simple rules to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation through the Got 2B Safe! Four Rules of Safety:

-- Check First -- Children should always check with parents and guardians
before accepting gifts, rides, or invitations from anyone, including
friends, acquaintances and people they don't know.
-- Go With a Friend -- Simple and straightforward -- never go anywhere
alone. Being with another person in public is safer and more fun.
-- It's My Body - Teach your children they have the right to say NO to
any unwelcome, uncomfortable, or confusing touch or actions by others.
-- Tell a Trusted Adult -- Teach your children to TELL a trusted adult --
parent, guardian, teacher, etc. -- if anyone or anything makes them
feel scared, uncomfortable or confused.


"Having taught in a variety of different environments and witnessing all types of abuse and neglect, I've always tried to incorporate a unit on safety in my classroom," said Jessica Beamon, a 2008 Grand Prize winner. "The simple Got 2B Safe! rules clearly resonate with my students and help educate them to make safe choices."

Makeovers include an overall redesign of the classroom with themes chosen by the teachers, and safety materials including Got 2B Safe! artwork. Additional information is available at www.got2bsafe.com.

The Got 2B Safe! program has won eight awards within the corporate social responsibility industry. It is a signature program of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative, which focuses on four areas: Family Safety & Security; Housing & Shelter; Science & Math Education; and Humanitarian Relief. Together with leading public and non-profit institutions, Honeywell has developed powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it serves. Honeywell also partners with NASA on FMA Live!, a hip hop science education program; and Rebuilding Together on home revitalization projects for low-income homeowners.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page