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Preparedness Ambassadors

Fourth grade students' members of Preparedness ambassador program
Preparedness Ambassadors Program logo
Policeman, Firefighters and Preparedness Ambassadors Program members

​Welcome to the Preparedness Ambassadors Program! This curriculum is designed to engage fourth grade students to develop and promote disaster preparedness guidelines for their homes, school, and local community. This program was created by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in partnership with the California Department of Education, CalRecycle, and the Sacramento County Office of Education.

Lastly, there is no cost or registration required just reach out to the program representative below about requesting materials for your classes. If you would like to hear a special message created just for your fourth grade students, see what Cal OES Public Information Officer, Shawn Boyd has to say about the adventure they are about to embark on when becoming a Preparedness Ambassador!

To date, the Preparedness Ambassadors Program has served:

Students

Schools (Public, Private, Homeschool)

Districts

Counties

Instructional Materials

Family Readiness guide Cover

NEW** Preparedness Ambassadors’ Activity Book – Join Sarge the Bear and the Preparedness Squad in Let’s Be Prepared! Preparedness Ambassadors Activity Book, the newest addition to the Preparedness Ambassadors’ Program. Students will continue to expand their knowledge of California disasters by solving activities that tie directly back to their student notebooks, the Cal OES Family Readiness Guide, and seven case studies. Students will grow their knowledge through activities such as the:

  • Wildfire Word Search
  • Quake and Shake Crossword Puzzle
  • Find the Emergency Supplies
  • Name that Volcano

 Explore all eight activities that students are sure to find fun, interesting, and puzzling!

Teacher Guide Cover

Teacher Guide – Provides the step-by-step instructional format for the curriculum. The instructional sequence curriculum follows the 5E instructional model of engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. This curriculum was designed to focus on the CA Health content area of Injury Prevention and Safety for fourth grade students and emphasizes the standard of Health Promotion.
The Teacher Guide includes all seven (7) case studies posted in the section below:

Student Notebook Cover

Student Notebook – Designed to provide fourth graders the ability to develop their knowledge on hazards within their communities and ways in which they can be prepared. Students will gather and use data, read case studies about actual disaster events, and reflect on behaviors that may help them stay safe during a disaster.

Family Readiness guide Cover

Family Readiness Guide (English) – A comprehensive preparedness document designed to help families prepare for a variety of disasters in the State of California. Below you will find the Family Readiness Guide translated into several other languages for your convenience.

​Additional Materials

Preparedness Ambassador Promotional Materials

Cal OES has small stickers, bumper stickers, bookmarks, and magnets available to promote the program and engage your students. We also have drawstring backpacks to assist students in assembling their personal emergency preparedness kits (quantities may be limited).

Preparedness Ambassadors promotional backpack

Check to see if your District has participated in the Preparedness Ambassadors Program!

Districts

Atwater Elementary School
Bass Lake School District
Conejo Valley Unified School District
El Centro Elementary School District
Fresno Unified School District
Foresthill Union Elementary School District
Healdsburg Unified School District
Holtville Unified School District
Lucerne Elementary School District
Marin City School District
Menifee Union School District
Moreno Valley Unified School District
Muroc Joint Unified School District
Natomas Unified School District
Novato Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
Penn Valley Union Elementary School District
Pleasant Ridge Union School District
Reed Union School District
Rio School District
Rocklin Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified School District
San Bernardino City Unified School District
San Diego Unified School District
San Juan Unified School District
San Leandro Unified School District
San Rafael City Elementary School District
Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District
Walnut Creek School District

Endorsements

      • ​“Empowering California students with the lessons and tools they need to understand and prepare for disasters helps our students and our communities stay safe. We’ve seen natural and human-caused disruptions affect the lives of so many students in the past few years—from wildfires, floods, and public safety power shutoffs, and now to a pandemic—and we must do everything we can to prepare for and protect student safety. The Preparedness Ambassadors fourth grade curriculum provides educators an outstanding standards-based method to teach students emergency preparedness.” – Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
      • “This project is an excellent model for how Project Based Learning (PBL) activities can cross different content areas and have a direct relation to real world situations for students. Particularly, these lessons closely align with CA Health Education standards in the content area of Injury Prevention and Safety and the skill of Health Promotion. While students master the science standards associated with natural disasters and regional effects, students increase their health literacy by creating guidelines to prepare for emergencies as well as practice the skill of health promotion by becoming a ‘Preparedness Ambassador’ within their community.” – Orange County Department of Education Health and Wellness Team
      • “Preparedness Ambassadors Program is action- and community-oriented, encouraging civic engagement, safety, empathy, and responsibility. This program will lead students to explore careers in disaster and emergency management, health care, and environmental fields.” – Nancy Zarenda, Education Consultant

Feedback

Cal OES is very interested in your feedback and experiences regarding this program. Please let us know what you think. Additionally, we are interested in the number of schools, classrooms, and students participating in this program. We would like to see pictures of your students in action and hear stories of how students helped to prepare their families, school, and communities to be prepared for disasters. We may even add them to the web site for other teachers to see and learn from your experiences.

Danielle Chapman

Danielle Chapman

Senior Emergency Services Coordinator

Office: (916) 845-8153
Email: Danielle.Chapman@CalOES.ca.gov