Masters of Disasters Student Teachers
The question is "When did you really understand a concept?" The answer is "When I taught it to others." And that is precisely what fourth grade teacher Carrie Carlson and second grade teacher Robin Civis are counting on. Students from both classes are teamed together and spending the year researching disaster preparedness using the resources of the local American Red Cross chapter and its Masters of Disaster Curriculum. This fall students from both classes were trained in water safety, fire safety, wildland fires, home safety, and flu pandemic. Now they are putting together resource kits featuring Build-A-Bear characters for demonstration in other classrooms. Students will become ambassadors of disaster preparedness and will go out into the school community to teach fellow students the lessons they have learned through written, oral, and cooperative learning activities. This service learning project is funded in part by Red Cross and district grants that promote social and academic initiatives. Long term goals are to integrate similar projects in years to come based on the success of this program.
