Practice Makes Perfect for Elementary School Students

From the FEMA: Children & Disasters Newsletter
James Hirsch, a Region 7 member of FEMA’s YPC, wanted to learn if practice helps people prepare for emergencies like it does for a test or in sports. He decided to teach elementary students in Kansas City, MO, about preparedness. He first engaged teachers at two schools in his area—Kellybrook and Shoal Creek Elementary School—to administer a pre-test. The results helped him gauge the students’ existing knowledge about how to prepare for emergencies.

Next, James used Save the Children’s Prep Rally materials to present preparedness basics to nearly 600 students.

“We had a lot of fun at the Prep Rally,” James said. “We worked on packets that had items like ID cards, home evacuation plans, and preparedness checklists.”
After each presentation, he gave students a post-test to see how much the students learned. The results show student growth in the subject area by as much as 14 percent.

“Now we know that practice not only helps you improve test scores and win games, but it can also help you prepare for weather and natural disasters,” James added.

Learn more about the Prep Rally model and James’ project.