On October 28, 2019, Lindenhurst Key Club members held their first Teddy Bear Clinic at Harding Elementary School. At the clinic, club members were accompanied by Kristi Ladowski of the Stony Brook Trauma Center. 

Together, members and Ms. Ladowski taught kindergartners about car and helmet safety in a fun and innovative way which made the students very interested. This included using props and demonstrations provided by the Trauma Center. Such demonstrations included an egg drop where one egg was in a styrofoam “helmet” when the other egg was not. The egg with the styrofoam “helmet” was able to stay safe when the other egg was not. 

Along with helmet safety, members also taught children about car safety. This involved teaching kids to sit in the backseat of the car and sit in a car seat/booster seat along with the importance of wearing a seat belt when the car is in drive. 

After the education portion of the Teddy Bear Clinic, the kindergarteners were brought back to their seats with their teddy bears and got dressed up as nurses in gloves, hair caps, and a mask. Kids had to identify what happened to their teddy bears and how to help them get better. 

Aliya John, a member of Key Club that attended the clinic thought “The event was amazing. We were able to teach kids about how to be safe in a creative way. We also got to help the students become pretend doctors and nurses that helped their teddy bears get better from what they learned.”

The kids showed great enjoyment and looked so happy that the high schoolers came to visit. Lindenhurst Key Club plans to hold another Teddy Bear Clinic later in the year because of its amazing success.