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Mom hopes video saves lives

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Janylle Koren of Fayetteville remembers her brother’s cry and the smell of his burning flesh as if it were yesterday.

But instead of trying to smother that horrid memory, the 44-year-old married mother of six decided to turn it into something that will protect children from potentially deadly fires for decades to come.

Through her non-profit organization, Bright Star Learning Inc. in Fayetteville, Koren distributes fire safety videos to fire departments, day care centers, libraries and schools, and she is asking for the public’s help to continue her mission.

Koren painfully recalls the day her brother, Darryl Sanchez, caught fire. Koren, then a 5-year-old, watched helplessly. The New Mexico native didn’t know what to do.

“I was born in a very, rural town in the middle of nowhere and one of my chores was to throw out the trash, and we used to burn it in big metal bins,” Koren said. “One day, I was about 5 and my brother was about 4 and we both went out there. Some of the trash obviously didn’t fit in the bin, so we put it on the ground and lit it on fire.

“We were sitting on the ground poking it and poking it and sure enough his pants legs caught on fire. Meanwhile, we were just sitting there like all people do; we were mesmerized, and he just kept saying ‘It’s hot. It’s burning me. It’s burning me.’ And I said, ‘Well. Don’t move.’ We didn’t know what to do.”

Koren suggested throwing dirt on his legs to stamp out the fire. But her brother shook his head disapprovingly. He said his mother wouldn’t like that because he would be dirty.

“We couldn’t rationalize. Kids can’t rationalize,” Koren said. “I just remember thinking I don’t know what to do.”

Luckily, her brother survived the ordeal.

Meanwhile, Koren went on to have children of her own, and from time to time the memory of that day resurfaced.

Eager to help others avoid her situation, Koren turned to firefighters and teachers and came up with a fire safety video kit entitled, “Buzzly Fire Safety” for preschoolers and elementary school children. Koren, then a single mother, used all the money she had to produce the video.

“I thought, how else am I going to do this,” Koren said. “I emptied out my 401K and my savings account. I felt this was something I had to do and God was going to take care of me.”

Koren thought the video would cost about $5,000 to make. It actually cost about $100,000 to make the video that features an animated bumble bee named Buzzly and child actors, lesson guides and more.

Koren formed Bright Star Learning Inc. which raises money to produce the videos.

Koren is working to raise money to distribute the Buzzly Fire Safety kits to 15,000 children in the Fayette County School System.

Koren knows that’s quite a feat, but that’s of little consequence.

Koren said Georgia ranks seventh when it comes to children who die in fires. If it helps save one child from fire then it’s worth it, she indicated.

“It’s something that I feel I was called to do,” she said.

Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services has teamed up with Koren to launch a new program centered around Buzzly Fire Safety’s interactive animated video. The program will expand the department’s existing fire safety education curriculum.

The video, which is designed to teach the basics of fire safety to all children in preschool through fourth grade, is easy to use and exciting for students, fire officials said.

Fayette County Fire Marshal Capt. David Scarbrough backs the program.

“Fayette County currently has an effective fire safety program for third graders and this new video will expand our program and allow us to reach significantly more children in our county,” Scarbrough said.

Starr’s Mill Academy Preschool and Childcare Center in Peachtree City is the first to receive the new Buzzly Fire Safety program in Fayette County. About 200 children at the center will benefit from the program each year.

Through local grants and funds, 200 kits that include about 50,000 products will be given to Fayette County through Bright Star Learning Inc.

“Support from local businesses and donations are needed to ensure that there are a sufficient number of programs to meet the fire safety education needs in Fayette County,” Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman Capt. Pete Nelms said.

To help Janylle Koren call 1-877-289-9594 or visit the Web site at www.brightstarlearning.biz.