By Nancy Degnan
Pedro, the Penguin exclaims “Prepare means get ready!” and the children stop and listen. A small sentence from a friendly character that can lead to big things like a hopeful tomorrow.
Prepare with Pedro is just one of American Red Cross Youth Preparedness Programs that are designed to help children and their families to “BE PREPARED and TAKE ACTION.” Kathy Mullen, a Youth Preparedness Lead for the American Red Cross of Southeastern PA (SEPA), shared that “a simple item like a working smoke detector can save a family from loss of property and more importantly, a life. These programs have been taught within the SEPA region for several years and we are looking to expand our services across the region.”
Kathy teaches and organizes volunteers for two key programs and would like to share her passion for driving fire safety education to elementary age children in the area. Prepare with Pedro and The Pillowcase Project create awareness and offer experiential activities to help young children learn the importance of fire safety.
Prepare with Pedro is a 30- to 45-minute preparedness education program for grades K-2 that teaches students how to BE PREPARED and TAKE ACTION for either home fires or a local hazard.
Pedro, the Penguin is the featured guest and is ready to help students learn through a storybook and activities. Pedro also shares a helpful safety checklist to reinforce the knowledge. To help students practice, they are encouraged to share with their families what they have learned. This is a great starter program to begin the fire safety learning journey and is perfect for schools and after-school programs.
This program is available in 40-to-60-minute formats and focuses on home fire, safety, and preparedness for grades 3 – 5. The ‘go bag – Pillowcase’ activity is the cornerstone of the program and has students use a pillowcase to pack personal belongings in case of an evacuation. It teaches students about personal and family preparedness, safety skills, local hazards, and basic coping skills. Using the “Learn. Practice. Share.” framework, the students experience preparedness skills, practice those skills in class, and are encouraged to share those critical lifesaving learnings with their family.
Volunteers relate the process for learning safety as similar to familiar activities to the children like dance, music, and sports. The program builds upon their current knowledge and introduces basic coping skills so they are calm should an emergency situation arise. Additionally, children are provided a more detailed understanding of weather conditions across the United States and the criticality of understanding weather to determine what is needed to be prepared for those conditions. This program is great for schools, after-school programs, Girl and Boy Scout troop meetings and other learning environments. The classes are free of charge and all supplies are provided by the Red Cross.
Our youth preparedness programs are now being offered in-person or virtually to students nationwide. Contact your local Red Cross for more information.
For additional resources please visit redcross.org/youthprep.
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