---

WACO, TEXAS—Have you ever wondered how to operate a three-story crane or what the inside of a mobile crime lab looks like? More than 3,500 elementary students had the opportunity to ask these questions and many others at C.O.W. (Careers on Wheels) Day, held Thursday at the Education Service Center Region 12.

Pre-K through fourth grade students explored nearly 50 vehicles and heard about a variety of careers as they talked to a horse farrier, a police officer, a firefighter, an ambulance driver and others who use vehicles as a part of their job.

“I like that the kids can get in and explore everything,” said a Riesel second grade teacher, as her students climbed through an ambulance.

“The army truck is the best. It’s fun because there’s a phone in there,” said one Mart second grader. The army truck was popular with a lot of the students, as were the fire truck and the helicopter.

A bucket truck, a radio station van, a tow truck, a helicopter, a dairy truck and an army tank were just a few of the vehicles included in the static display. The exhibitors seemed to enjoy the day as much as the students.

“This is cool! They didn't have stuff like this when I was a kid. If the truck didn't come to your school, you never got to see it,” said one exhibitor.

The unique event, held for the first time last year, was referred to as Truck Day, and drew nearly 900 students. This year there were almost four times that number. Next year’s event is scheduled for April 21, 2005.

The in-kind sponsors for C.O.W. Day were Coca Cola of Waco, Educators Credit Union, ESC Region 12, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, KWTX Channel 10, Swift Outdoor Advertising, Waco Tribune-Herald, and Wal-Mart.

For more information, call (254) 297-1244.

About ESC Region 12
The Education Service Center Region 12 is one of 20 centers throughout Texas that assists 78 independent school districts and 11 charter schools in attaining the Texas Education Agency’s goals and objectives. The center is based in Waco with offices in Copperas Cove, Corsicana, Goldthwaite, Hillsboro, and Teague. The ESC Region 12’s service area includes Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, Mills, McLennan, and Navarro counties.

Participating School Districts

Axtell ISD	Bosqueville ISD	China Spring ISD
Clifton ISD	Connally ISD	Copperas Cove ISD
Covington ISD	Evant ISD	Gatesville ISD
Kopperl ISD	La Vega ISD	Lorena ISD
Malone ISD	Mart ISD	Marlin ISD
McGregor ISD	Midway ISD	Morgan ISD
Priddy ISD	Rapoport Academy	Rice ISD
Riesel ISD	Robinson ISD	Rosebud-Lott ISD
Star ISD	Troy ISD	Valley Mills ISD
Waco ISD	West ISD	Whitney ISD

---

American General Contractors	American Red Cross	Arrow Ranch
Barsh Company	Big Boy Wrecking Service	Brazos Valley Equipment
City of Waco	City of Waco Parks & Recreation Dept.	City of Waco Police Dept.
City of Waco Solid Waste Dept.	City of Waco Street Dept.	Clark Travel
East Texas Medical Center	Equipment Depot, Inc	Goodwin Plumbing
Hewitt Police Department	Judd Veterinary Clinic	Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
KWTX Channel 10	Lacey-Lakeview Fire Dept.	McLennan County Sheriff’s Office
Midway ISD	Oak Farms	Oldies 95
Oncor Electric Company	Sears	Stephane Robillard – Farrier
Texas Department of Public Safety	Texas State Technical College	United States Army
United States Post Office	WCI of Texas	Young Brothers

###

---