(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Fred Rogers Productions, PNC Grow Up Great and WVIA, are proud to present, Be My Neighbor Day, Look for the Helpers.

- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to WVIA's virtual, Be My Neighbor Day.

For those of you who don't know us, I'm Kirsten Smith and this is Teresa Sabecky and we are WVIA's Education Department.

- Today, we are going to celebrate what it means to be a caring neighbor.

- And you can be a caring neighbor by being a helper.

There are so many ways to help in your community.

- Let's meet a local neighborhood helper, a firefighter.

- Hi kids.

My name is Stephanie Williams and I'm with the NEIU.

My role there is I.T.

Operations.

What that means, is I help the people I work with work with their computers and some of the software that they have to do, to do their job.

I'm with another helper today, I'm with Jim Kuzmak.

Jim is a huge helper in our community.

Hi Jim, can you tell us how you help us in the community?

- Hi, Steph, I am a firefighter and an Emergency Medical Technician in the community, with the local fire department.

And with that, I work with my teammates and other members of the fire department, to respond to all different types of emergencies, that may come up within the community.

- Wow, that is super exciting.

I notice you have a hat, or a helmet.

How does that keep you safe?

- Yes, let me explain some of my gear.

The first thing that I would like to explain, is my helmet.

My helmet is made of a hard outer shell, with a safety protection inside, that includes an ear flap and protective material inside to protect my head from anything that may fall on me and also the heat of the fire.

It also has a chin strap, to allow me to keep it on my head, so it doesn't fall off.

The next part is what's called my turnout gear.

My turnout gear is made up of my jacket and my pants, that have three different liners to keep me safe, while firefighters are fighting fires.

From there I have these protective gloves, to keep my hands nice and safe when I'm fighting fires, or doing other types of work at different emergency scenes.

From there, I have protective boots on that have steel toes, that if anything falls on me it won't hurt my toes, as well as it goes up to my knees, to help protect anything that may hit me, or any type of heat that may get onto my legs.

From there and one of the most important features that we use, or protective equipment that we use, is our SCBA, or Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus.

A lot of people refer to these as air tanks, but these are what helps us breathe, when we go into burning buildings.

This allows us to breathe fresh air, so none of the smoke and the hot gases, affects our breathing.

With that and the mask that we wear, we may look a little funny, when we're all masked up and coming into a fire.

But one thing I want you to know is, I don't want you to be afraid of us, we're there to help.

Firefighters that are dressed like this, may sound different, but we're there to help.

Overall all of this gear that I'm wearing, can weigh over 60 pounds.

So, it's very heavy, but we wear it for our protection and to help protect the community from any type of fires that may occur.

- So can you tell us why firefighters are a huge help in the community?

- Absolutely.

Firefighters and fire departments all over the country are very important to our communities.

We not only respond to emergencies, but we also teach kids about fire prevention, how to call 9-1-1, what to say when you call 9-1-1, make sure your know your address, your telephone number, where you live, all those types of things.

And we help kids to understand that they shouldn't play with dangerous items, like matches or lighters and that their parents should use those types of tools.

So overall, the firefighting community serves as a huge community asset, because we're there to protect our citizens, not only when an emergency occurs, but before and after the emergency.

- Wow, that is great.

I never realized firefighters do so much to keep all of us safe in the community.

Now, if I wanted to become a firefighter, or if I knew of someone else that wanted to become a firefighter, how would I become one?

- Well, you could check with your local fire department.

Most areas here in Pennsylvania have volunteer fire departments.

You could check with those.

Most of them have what's called a junior or a cadet program, that you could actually start at the age of 14, starting to learn how to become a firefighter.

From there, once you turn 18, you could take classes to actually be able to go in and to fight the fire and to respond to other types of emergencies.

From there, the possibilities are endless.

You could become a career big city firefighter, or you could stay local and just volunteer in your local volunteer fire departments.

- Wow Jim, thanks for telling us all how important firefighters are in our community, how they're huge helpers and if we wanted to become a helper like yourself, we could.

- Absolutely, you're very welcome.

Thanks for having me, Stephanie.

- We'd like to thank Jim, our firefighter.

And remember when you see something scary, always look for a helper.

- Helpers are all around you, especially when you're in school.

- Let's meet a very special teacher in your neighborhood.

- Hi kids, I'm Robert Sauvikinas and I'm the career transition coordinator with the LIU.

I'm here today with Alexandra Konsur-Grushinski, a very important helper in the community.

Miss Konsur-Grushinski, can you tell us about yourself and your job as a helper?

- Yes, thank you.

I actually use robots when I help.

This is the kind of thing that I do, I'm a Robot STEM Educator.

So, what I do is, I'll go to all different classrooms in Northeastern Pennsylvania and I will teach kids how to use robots and drones and all sorts of other mechanical items.

- Oh wow.

How is this job, a job that helps us in the community?

- Well, robots are everywhere and it's high time our students knew where they were, number one and were able to identify them and that they're not scared of them, that they're, that they know what they're there for and that they can learn how they work.

And so, that's very important, that we learn how robots work, because that is a job and that's something that students can do, if they're interested.

- That is fascinating.

Can you show us a little bit about the robots that you work with?

- Absolutely, I actually brought some of my robot friends here with me today and they're actually sitting over here on this table over here.

So I'm, I have a selection of small robots here.

I have a little green robot here, that's a Sphero Mini and that is controlled by my tablet, by an app.

And I can put in lines of code, or I can use a joystick and use my finger to control it.

I also have a couple of little ozobots here.

Hello?

And these ozobots can do a variety of things.

They can actually follow a line and do tricks of following the line, or they can also be programmed to run code, that has been put into them, via computer or tablet.

And so students can learn how robots work and they can explore kind of the locomotionary aspects of them and the way the different sensors work and this robot is actually saying "Hello" and it's following the line.

- Can you tell us a little bit about how you became a STEM teacher?

- Yes, actually I started off in my schooling with some fantastic teachers and those teachers really inspired me to achieve to my best ability and to kind of look for my talents and look for how I could make the most difference in the world.

And so, those teachers that I had when I was a young girl actually inspired me to become a teacher like them, because I thought if I could become the best that I could be, then I could also help inspire other young people to do the same.

And so, that's how I became a teacher.

I actually went to college and then I sat for what we call a Praxis exam, to become certified to be a teacher.

And I teach currently in Pennsylvania.

- Excellent.

And can you tell me about how robots, can actually help us in the community?

- Absolutely.

You might be familiar With some robots that are out in public.

There are some robots that are in some local grocery stores, whose job it is to identify when there's a spill or a trip hazard, to keep people from tripping in the aisles.

Instead of having a human there, they have a robot that never gets tired, never calls in sick.

It's really great to have that robot there.

People take selfies with that robot all the time.

There's actually robots used in Fort Indiantown Gap, to be able to train our men and women in the armed forces, of different ways in which they can look at danger and be able to rescue people that might be in distress.

And then robots are also used with the fire department and the emergency department, to help find people that are injured, maybe in a smoky building, if they can't go in there safely, they might send a robot in instead.

- Thank you so much for joining us today and telling us how you are an important helper in our community.

- Thank you, it was my pleasure.

- To celebrate, Be My Neighbor Day, WVIA wants to give you a gift.

- WVIA is proud to offer everyone a book of their own, to take home.

It's important to read as much as you can, and now you'll have your own book to enjoy, whenever you want.

Stay tuned for details.

- Let's meet another helper in your neighborhood.

- Hello, boys and girls, and welcome.

My name is Rebecca Gibboney and I am from BLaST IU Intermediate Unit 17.

And I'm here today with Mr. Dave Doyle, one of our community helpers.

Dave we're so glad to have you on the show.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your job in the community as a helper?

- I'm a contractor.

We build residential, which is homes and commercial, which is businesses, such as stores and office spaces.

- That's great.

And can you tell us how might these be helpful in our community today?

- They are very helpful.

Everyone has a roof over their head.

They have the heat on and water running, thanks to a contractor.

- I can not agree with you any more, I know it's really helpful for me when I have a roof over my head when it's snowing, or raining, or just cold, right?

So, can you explain for us a little bit about your typical day?

If I'm a contractor and I go and I'm building a house, can you explain the steps for that and maybe show us a couple of your tools?

- Sure.

So, it all starts with the owner's idea.

The owner of the project could be the person wanting to build a home.

It could be the person wanting to build an office space, or a school, or hospital, or anything.

So, it goes from their idea to an engineer.

The engineer takes that and puts it on a plan.

Once it's on that plan, on paper, then it gets handed off to the builder, which is a man like me.

We break and prep the site with excavation equipment, kind of like Tonka trucks, only life size.

So, we prep the site, we lay the concrete, which is the foundation and then from that point, we frame the walls, put the roof on and then all the internal finishings happen.

The interior walls, the carpeting, the wiring, the plumbing and everything else that goes inside.

And then the final phase is, the acceptance of the owner of the project, when they come in and are happy to see that their idea was brought to life.

- Wow, that sure is a bunch of stats and it sounds like you also work with a lot of other community helpers as well, like a plumber, electrician and engineer.

What kind of tools might you use?

You might have a couple right beside you - Sure.

- could share with us.

- One of the most important tools, is a measuring tape.

Everything comes down to measurements.

It all has to be exact, from the time you place the building on the site, to the time you put the last piece of trim up, it all was calculated by the architect or the engineer.

So, that's a very important subject in school, is math.

Also your tools, that make everything happen.

So, we have a power drill, which, you know, put bolts and screws in.

This is used a lot, on day-to-day jobs, with every tradesman.

Circular saw, is mostly used by carpenters, trim guys and framing.

And then a nail gun, which is also used by the carpenters and metal fasteners, depending on what needs to be fastened.

And then a Sawzall, we don't like to use too much, because sometimes it's used to correct a mistake, which, you know, happens.

But this is made to correct that, or do a real rough cut that we don't really wanna do all the time.

- Those are a lot of tools and a lot of tools that I would love to learn myself, on how to use.

If you were to say, wrapping up here a little bit, what skills might I need, as I grow up, to become a contractor?

- Well, you have to have work ethic, which means you have to have the willingness to be out and do hard work in all of the elements, whether it's hot out, or it's cold and rainy, or it's snowing.

And also, you need to know basic math, to get you through the basic steps of construction.

And most of all, an imagination.

You have to have an imagination, to get through the trades in every phase of it, because you have to visualize what it is you're doing, because you're creating something out of nothing.

And in the end, you have a complete project.

- Well, Mr. Doyle, we cannot thank you enough.

I'm hopeful that our listeners will keep in mind that they will need a work ethic, imagination and to study those math skills.

Thanks again.

And we look forward to hearing again from you, in the future.

- Thanks.

- Thank you to all of the helpers who participated in today's program.

Remember there are many special people in our communities, dedicated to helping us out.

And don't forget, in honor of Be My Neighbor Day, WVIA is proud to offer everyone a free book, so you can read at home anytime you want.

- A list of participating libraries and more information and how to get your free book, will be on wvia.org.

So, check it out.

- Being a caring neighbor, is as easy as being a good helper.

Thanks so much for watching and we'll see next time.

And as Daniel Tiger says, - "Ugga Mugga!"

(upbeat music)