Project Summary

After the disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a lack of hurricane preparation in the Gulf Coast communities was exposed. This summer, my project entailed researching a variety of educational resources and curriculums dealing with the content of weather disaster education and hurricane preparedness education. Through this research, I narrowed down many resources to a comprehensive unit that would align with Texas standards, as well as provide my school with a valuable program to help bring hurricane awareness to our community.

The program targets three main objectives:

• The first objective is for the students to gain a better knowledge of hurricane development and factors that determine a hurricane's path. This will be accomplished through a variety of education tools such as models, research projects, internet activities and hands on activities.
• The second objective is to allow the children to create Hurricane Preparedness Kits that they can share with their families and use during a disaster. These kits will include resources for documenting valuables, a check list for evacuation, contact and emergency numbers, and many other valuable tools.
• The third objective is to bring awareness to the community by putting on a resource fair for families to attend and be educated on hurricanes as well as participate in workshops presented by the school and local groups. These workshops will allow locals to develop kits and obtain resources that will help them in a time of disaster.

We will track the success of this program in hopes that other schools will adopt similar curriculums to provide for their students and families.