BUTLER TWP — Continuing a 22-year tradition, the Butler Township Police Department participated in the "Officer Phil Child Safety Program" Thursday at Northwest Elementary School.

The program is designed to teach children in kindergarten through fourth grade about peer pressure, stranger awareness and Internet safety. It follows a Sesame Street model that uses puppetry, ventriloquism, audience participation and magic to present its message.

This year's show featured a new character, ICY the talking penguin. ICY hosted a game show "Treasure of the 7 Cs." The game taught children about the seven c's of safety — Caution, Communication, Courage, Cooperation, Commitment, Confidence, and Creativity.

Presenter Marjorie McKee travels to different schools in the area on behalf of Creative Safety Products, and the former music teacher truly enjoys her work.

"I just love it because you feel like you're doing something worthwhile," she said.

McKee said the goal of the program is to keep children safe and to show them a different side to the police department. The program works to empower children in a non-threatening way and gives a familiar face to the police to ease the fear many children have of officers.

To do so, the Officer Phil program presents police officers as very important pals (VIPs). At each presentation, an officer from the community police department attends. This year Butler Township Police Officer Justin Hovancik, better known as "Officer Justin," joined McKee for a third year.

McKee believes Hovancik and his fellow officers to be "very dedicated and real heroes." This is especially true of Hovancik, who recently served in Iraq.

Officer Justin likes going into schools and giving a friendly face to the police department for the children.

"I enjoy getting into the schools because I'm too busy to do it any other time," he said.

He also added the children recognize him from year to year as well as in public.

Ultimately, the program aims to empower children to make good decisions and teaches familiar lessons like stranger danger.

The Officer Phil program, founded in 1975, now operates in 21 states and is funded through community sponsorship by local businesses. McKee explains the schools and the police departments pay nothing to bring the program into elementary schools, and the company is really grateful for the community support it receives.

Each child gets an activity book and a set of seven character cards that correspond to the seven Cs. The activity book features characters seen in the show and helps to reinforce the ideas presented.

McKee believes characters like ICY and Officer Phil capture the attention of children across the broad age range of K-4 and help to make the 30-year-old program a success.

"If one kid stays safe, it makes it worthwhile," she said.