Police sirens blared, blue and red lights flashed and voices could be heard yelling loudly over a police radio — but it was a happy occasion outside Cosmo’s Pizza on a sunny afternoon in May.
Students from Denver North High School, Skinner Middle School, Centennial Elementary School and Columbian Elementary School joined Cosmo’s staff, the Denver Fire Department and the Denver Police Department at the Last Fling Lunch on May 20, 21 and 22 to celebrate the end of the school year, see presentations from emergency responders and eat pizza.
Cosmo’s hosts the event at its Federal Boulevard location twice a year, once in the fall and spring to support the community that helps their business thrive, owner Bob Marek said.
“It all started, opening the restaurant, wanting to be a part of the community, and it really spawned and grew from there,” Marek said. “It really is part of our corporate value of giving back to the community.”
Students, including those who are in special education programs, had a chance to interact with local fire crews and police teams, sit inside police vehicles, go inside the firetruck and spray the firehose. Emergency responders also showed off new technology such as drones used in fire rescue missions.
It’s fun to see the kids interact with the fire rigs and experience things they’ve never seen up close before, Captain Luis Cedillo said. But it’s also helpful to the fire crew to engage with the community outside of emergency situations.
“It provides an insight to those kids about what firefighters do, how we work and they get to see the actual engine, throw some water,” Cedillo said. “What we’re trying to do is create trust and respect between us, and even PD. It’s helping us bring more collaboration between the Department of (Public) Safety and the community.”
For some, it may inspire a future career in public safety, Cedillo added, but regardless, it’s a chance for the kids to be curious and have fun.
Students with developmental disabilities often don’t participate in public activities because it can be hard for their families to accommodate, said Litzy Canche, a paraprofessional at Centennial Elementary School. Last Fling Lunch gives them an opportunity to see and experience new things with the support of school workers.
It’s important to challenge special needs students in the same way students without disabilities are, Canche added.
“There is so much more that you don’t know that they can do, and when you push them to that, then they can accomplish,” Canche said. “Stopping them like, ‘oh, they can never do that,’ instead of exposing them to that experience never gives them the opportunity to even try.”
Working with children who have disabilities, Canche feels that perception is misinformed and unfairly judges people based on the limited view of their physical characteristics, she said.
“You don’t know what you’re looking at, because our eyes cannot see inside of anybody’s brain, and we don’t know what’s going on in there,” Canche said. “Approaching everything with an open mind and an open heart is very important with any of these kids or with anybody.”