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Do your students know what to do in case of disaster? Are you teachers familiar with the school’s evacuation route and emergency procedures? Have your students brought emergency kits to the classroom?

Disasters can leave children feeling frightened, confused, and insecure.

The best way to help your students feel safe about disasters is to educate them. Make sure they understand that they are an important part of your school’s emergency plan.

Take advantage of the many resources available to help you prepare your class for any disaster. Work with young students to educate them about potential dangers and how to be prepared. Consider including weekly or monthly disaster education in your lesson plans. You are a principal part of their daily lives, so help them be ready for anything.

Take Action

• Sign up for a ReadyOC School Assembly for your school.
• Make emergency preparation fun with Ready Classroom Themed Puzzles, the ReadyOC Activity Book and Ready Kids Comic Strips.
• Visit Sesame Street to learn more about disasters with Let’s Get Ready! During science class, discuss the disasters that Orange County has experienced or may encounter. Or learn about tsunamis from a classroom full of lobsters!
• Download school-located vaccination planning materials and templates from the CDC.
• Link to ReadyOC.org on your school website and provide online resources to your students, teachers and parents.
• Encourage your students to bring a disaster kit to keep in the classroom or build a school emergency kit with this checklist. Explain how each item on this emergency kit list might be used in case of emergency.
• Work with students during class time to write out a class plan for emergencies.