Introduction

Thank you for participating in the Student Tools for Emergency Planning ‘STEP’ program. You will be equipping your students and their families with concrete strategies to prepare for and deal with various emergencies.

The two staples of a prepared household are the existence of an emergency kit and a family communication plan. If you needed to evacuate your home in only 5 minutes, would you know what items to bring with you and where to find them quickly? Spending a few minutes now to gather emergency supply items, such as non perishable food, water, non-electric radio, flashlight, extra clothes, and personal items into an emergency kit will save you critical time in a quick evacuation and will be ready for your use when an emergency necessitates sheltering in your home.

A family communication plan consists of a series of agreements between members that result in families communicating in the time of an emergency. How do family members connect when cell phones are down? Where do family members meet when they cannot get to their home? These are important answers to find out before these events occur.

The STEP lesson materials were designed with you, the instructor, in mind and you should find that reaching these learning objectives with your group of students can be fun and easy. The 1-hour, ready-to-teach base lesson utilizes a student friendly movie “The Adventures of the Disaster Dudes” and can be reinforced with a number of lesson plans, games, and activities that align with 4th and 5th grade national learning standards. Please pick the elements of these supplemental lessons that you feel would maximize the growth of your unique group of students. The other materials that may be provided to your students, such as yellow backpacks equipped with emergency supply items, will support fully engaging your students in these lessons.

For children, gaining knowledge of what to do in emergencies beforehand can also give them a feeling of confidence, control, and calmness in a time that could otherwise be quite traumatic. Thank you for your commitment to the goal of empowering your students to prepare themselves and their households!

--> View STEP Instructional Materials

--> View STEP tips from other teachers

--> View the Resources for more tools

YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Equipping families with these two important elements (emergency kit and a communication plan) can ease disruption and discomfort in the event of an emergency and could even save lives.

Contents of the Student Starter Emergency Kit Backpacks:
Flashlight with batteries
Emergency blanket
Emergency whistle

Note - The two most important parts of an emergency kit, non perishable food and water, are purposely NOT in these kits to emphasize the action of students adding them to their family emergency kits.