Honeywell and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Announce Fifth Annual 'Got 2B Safe!' Awards
February 12 2010 - 9:40AM
PR Newswire (US)
America's Safest Teachers Can Win a $10,000 Classroom Makeover
MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Honeywell
(NYSE: HON) and the National Center for Missing & Exploited
ChildrenĀ® (NCMEC) today announced the launch of the fifth annual
"Got 2B Safe!" Awards. The program is designed to encourage
teachers at U.S. elementary schools to help their students learn
valuable and potentially life-saving lessons. While most are
recovered quickly, the U.S. Department of Justice reports that an
estimated 2,000 children are reported missing each day. Got 2B
Safe! provides teachers with child safety teaching tools and
annually recognizes five teachers who develop the most creative
lesson plans. Winners receive a classroom makeover worth $10,000
and 100 other teachers will win $500 worth of school supplies.
Makeovers include an overall redesign of the classroom with themes
chosen by the teachers, and materials including the Got 2B Safe!
safety rules. The Got 2B Safe! Awards program will be open until
March 26, 2010. Educators can log on to http://www.got2bsafe.com/
for information about the contest and to submit an essay
emphasizing how they effectively taught their students the Got 2B
Safe! Four Rules of Safety for a chance to win. "It is crucial to
arm our children with positive, empowering lessons 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 communities 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 provides 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.
"When I was younger, my parents stressed the importance of saying
'no' to strangers," said Danielle Kovach, a 2009 Grand Prize
winner. "As a parent and teacher, I realize that this tactic is no
longer a child's best defense. Through Honeywell's Got 2B Safe!
Program, teachers and parents have the resources to teach children
the necessary steps to protect themselves against child predators.
As a teacher, I have the privilege to reach many children and to
instill a positive influence in their lives." The Got 2B Safe!
program has won nine awards within the corporate social
responsibility industry. It is a signature program of Honeywell
Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative.
About Honeywell Honeywell http://www.honeywell.com/ is a Fortune
100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving
customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control
technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; automotive
products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris
Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York,
London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information
on Honeywell, please visit http://www.honeywellnow.com/. About
Honeywell Hometown Solutions The Got 2B Safe! program is part of
Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship
initiative, which focuses on five areas: Family Safety &
Security; Housing & Shelter; Science & Math Education,
Humanitarian Relief and Habitat & Conservation. Together with
leading public and non-profit institutions, Honeywell has developed
powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it
serves. For more information, please go to
http://www.honeywell.com/hhs. About the National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children The National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it
was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated
the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has
handled more than 2,447,000 calls. It has assisted law enforcement
in the recovery of more than 148,400 children. The organization's
CyberTipline has handled more than 784,600 reports of child sexual
exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has
reviewed and analyzed more than 31,041,800 pornography images and
videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Justice's office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour
hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at
http://www.missingkids.com/. Media Contacts: NCMEC Jill Williams
Media Department 973.455.2541 703.887.6111 DATASOURCE: Honeywell
CONTACT: Jill Williams, +1-973-455-2541, ; NCMEC Media Department,
+1-703-887-6111, Web Site: http://www.honeywell.com/
Copyright