OEM, DOE AND SAVE THE CHILDREN GIVE AWAY 1,000 GO BAGS TO STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY TO CELEBRATE SAFE SCHOOLS WEEK

Safe Schools Week Giveaway Kicks Off 2010 Ready Schools Program

The New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Department of Education, and Save the Children today announced that 1,000 fourth graders participated in Resilient and Ready emergency preparedness workshops this week. Each student who participated in the workshops received a free Go Bag donated by Save the Children.

“Teaming up with Save the Children through our Ready Schools program is another successful and fun way to teach children the importance of being prepared for emergencies,” said OEM Commissioner Joseph F. Bruno. “And we have seen that preparing kids for emergencies has an added benefit - many students take the lessons home and share them with their families."

“We have worked closely with Commissioner Bruno and the Office of Emergency Management in teaching children to be prepared in school and at home,” said Deputy Schools of Operations Chancellor Kathleen Grimm. “To this end, many schools have supplemented classroom work with the Ready Schools guides to help students and their families.”

“Children are the most vulnerable citizens in an emergency and all too often their needs are not taken into account in disaster plans, leaving them even more vulnerable,” said Mark Shriver, senior vice president of U.S. Programs for Save the Children. “The city of New York is putting kid’s front and center in disaster planning and through their leadership and the Resilient and Ready program, kids will be better prepared to face an emergency in the future.”

The Save the Children Resilient and Ready program is taught across the country and was designed to educate children about emergency preparedness through a curriculum that includes story telling and cooperative games. Upon completion of the workshop, the students were presented with a Go Bag, filled with emergency supplies including, a flashlight, batteries, a personal hygiene kit and an emergency identification tag.

This week’s Resilient and Ready workshops kicked off OEM’s 2010 Ready Schools program, which educated over 18,000 elementary school students - primarily in the second and third grades - about emergency preparedness during the 2009/2010 school year. This school year the Ready Schools program will reach more than 20,000 students at over 100 events.

Ready Schools focuses on three key messages:   

• Get Ready: Make a Plan – Haveat least two phone numbers—one local and one out-of-state number that you can call in an emergency—and practice the plan with adults in your home.
• Get Set: Prepare a Stay at Home Kit – For emergencies that require you to stay at home, it is important to have extra food and water for everyone in the house and a battery-operated radio for news updates.
• Get Ready to Go: Pack a Go Bag – For emergencies that require you to leave your home, have a Go Bag with emergency supplies.

Ready Schools is part of OEM’s Ready New York preparedness program. Ready New York has grown dramatically since OEM released its first household preparedness guide in 2003.  The program now includes several multi-language publications, public service announcements, videos, an advertising campaign, extensive web content, a speakers’ bureau, a reprinting program, corporate partnerships, and community outreach. Ready New York guides are available in up to 23 languages, in Braille and on audio tape.

For more information about the Ready Schools initiative and the Ready New York program visit www.nyc.gov/oem or call 311.

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Chris Gilbride / Seth Andrews (OEM)                                (718) 422-4888
Margie Feinberg (DOE)                                                       (212) 374-4942
Erika Viltz (Save the Children)                                            (202)-640-6709