See a danger, stop a danger

A handful of third graders sat on a tiled classroom floor in Langdon, North Dakota, enraptured by the miniature scene playing out before them. A small power line hugged the edge of a rural highway, with a tiny substation and transformer box nearby. In this moment, two Minnkota Power Cooperative safety representatives were demonstrating what could happen if a grain auger were to contact that power line.

“Now, he’s backing up and getting really, really close. What’s going to happen?” Safety Administrator Brandon Greene asked the students. His safety colleague, Seth Baune, slowly rolled the toy auger toward the power line. The children watched, a current of anticipation flowing through them.

Then – the hot, bright snap of electrons leaping from line to equipment.

“It’s going to create an arc of electricity,” Greene said over the murmured wonder of his audience. “And remember, that electricity's trying to find a way to the ground.”

The power line safety presentation was one of eight safety sessions presented to Langdon Area Elementary School’s third through sixth graders during Progressive Agriculture Safety Day on May 18. The program, coordinated by the Cavalier County Health District and supported by the Progressive Agriculture Foundation, is held annually at one of the county’s three school districts. It was Langdon’s turn to dive into topics ranging from how to safely use bikes, ATVs and lawnmowers, all the way to mental health, gun safety and proper fire response.

Marty Tetrault, general manager of Cavalier Rural Electric Cooperative, has been involved with Safety Day for several years. In the past, he has shown students how to locate dangerous underground utilities before digging in the backyard. But when he saw his partners at Minnkota had developed a tabletop power line safety demo, he figured he’d bring a new spark to his presentation.

“I thought it was something the kids would really enjoy,” Tetrault said, remembering the first time he saw the demo. “I was standing there and when it zapped, I backed up. I’ve worked with electricity for 30 years, and even I was like, ‘Oh, geez.’ It gives more of a real-life experience of what, hopefully, none of them will ever experience.”

The demo box, which is an element of Minnkota’s “Watch the Wires” power line safety campaign, was constructed in 2025 by Baune himself. Since then, it’s made its way to co-op annual meetings, classrooms, safety camps and other events in North Dakota and Minnesota. Greene and Baune use real electric current to visibly (and audibly) show what can happen if people, ladders, trucks or farm equipment contact power lines.

Wherever the case ends up, the buzz soon follows.

“This is a kind of training you don’t see everywhere. If we can introduce it to the younger generation, they can pass it along to their families, which is huge,” Greene explained. “We just need to keep getting the word out there, whether it’s kids, whether it’s adults, it doesn’t matter. But the kids really seem to hold onto it, and they like to spread the word.”

A day of safety

Progressive Ag Safety Day has been held in Cavalier County since 2007, but it wasn’t always a classroom activity. It started as community-wide summer program and reinvented itself four years ago to make a greater impact.

“We found that it was hard, because not all kids or parents could get kids to a camp in the middle of the day in the summer. We realized that was a barrier for busy working parents,” said coordinator Stephanie Welsh, a registered nurse with the Cavalier County Health District. “So, we started offering it at each school in our county, rotating every three years.”

“This way, we can make sure all the kids in Cavalier County are getting those safety tips and precautions,” added Langdon Area Elementary Principal Jacy Bata. “We know they’re experiencing it, even if it is only once every three years.”

Even before bringing its Safety Day to North Dakota, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation has been spreading the message of rural safety around the nation since 1995, reaching more than 2 million children and adults. The Foundation partners with local coordinators to create Safety Days that integrate subject matter experts from the community.

Jana Davidson, program manager for the Progressive Agriculture Foundation, says that local coordinators and volunteers are the “heart and soul” of the program.

“If we save or protect just one life, it is all worth it,” Davidson said. “While we love talking about our program, seeing is believing. Watching the faces of the children light up when they are learning through engaging, hands-on experiences, you know these lessons will stick and keep them safe as they grow.”

According to Welsh, incidents are one of the top causes of morbidity and mortality in children. In Cavalier County’s rural setting, there are a lot of opportunities for incidents, which means a lot of room for injury prevention. “This day is a really nice way for all of our community partners who are really invested in keeping kids safe, whatever their scope of work, to highlight those practices to kids directly,” she said.

As the students made their way to a new station every 15 minutes, they asked unique questions and shouted out responses, volunteering to put on safety gear or shoot a fire hose. They were engaged. They were ready to protect themselves and those around them.

“I want them to take away the importance of being the big brother or the big sister. Let your little siblings or cousins know something that you learn,” Bata said. “I hope they go home, have a little talk about it at the dinner table, and let their parents know something that they learned. But ultimately, I hope they have fun while learning.”

MAIN IMAGE: Langdon students raise their hands when asked, “How many of you live on a farm or have been to a farm?”