Ms. Wendy Grider’s 4th grade class, 2021-2022, Rock Creek Elementary School; Rocklin Unified School District
It’s that time of year, back-to-school time! With school back in session, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is calling all fourth graders to become preparedness ambassadors for their communities. Through Cal OES’s Preparedness Ambassadors Program, teachers can lead the way for students by incorporating the program into their lesson plans.
With lessons that start in the classroom, Preparedness Ambassadors is a curriculum created for students to build and promote disaster preparedness guidelines for their homes, schools and local communities.
Developed in partnership with California Department of Education, Cal Recycle and Sacramento County Office of Education, the program is based on fourth-grade education standards, and it’s the first statewide classroom preparedness program in California.
Let’s take a look at some program highlights:
- The program meets educational standards including the California Health Education Content Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, Environmental Principles and Concepts, and English Language Arts Standards.
- Incorporates real disasters that could affect Californians with lessons about wildfires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, power outages, volcanoes, and tornadoes.
- The program is flexible and inclusive – it encourages compassion, supports students with access and functional needs, and can be adapted to the needs of individual classrooms or geographical areas of the school.
- Includes several interactive activities like developing a family readiness guide with parents and guardians, creating posters for local communities, and asking local businesses how they can help during a disaster.
- Students become Preparedness Ambassadors and receive certificates of completion at the end of the program.
- All classroom curriculum is free and can be downloaded directly from our website at Cal OES Preparedness Ambassadors Program.
- There’s no cost or registration required to utilize this program.
- Teachers get access to free classroom materials– small stickers, bumper stickers, bookmarks, drawstring backpacks and magnets, all with Cal OES Preparedness Ambassadors branding.
To date, the Preparedness Ambassadors Program has served 52 schools in 26 districts throughout the state. Don’t let your fourth-grade class miss out!
Interested teachers can email Danielle Chapman, Cal OES Senior Emergency Services Coordinator, at Danielle.Chapman@CalOES.ca.gov to get started.
Resources