Be Ready Camp Provides Disaster Preparedness, Leadership Skills to Alabama's Sixth Graders
07/26/2012
Would you like to develop leadership skills in your children or students? Give them an opportunity to learn about disaster preparedness, participate in a full scale mock disaster exercise and meet new friends in the process? If so, register for Be Ready Camp!
Located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Be Ready Camp is an innovative and unique five-day, full immersion residential camp that promotes citizen preparedness and participation to sixth graders in the State of Alabama.
Overview
Be Ready Camp is an innovative and unique program that promotes citizen preparedness and participation to sixth graders in Alabama using multiple approaches to learning. Be Ready Camp uses instructional techniques that expand traditional classroom instruction with tool kits, hands-on learning, exercises, take-away materials, and the use of technology to a diverse audience of sixth graders. Incorporated in Be Ready Camp are multiple means of assessment that allows diverse learners to demonstrate their knowledge. Be Ready Camp is a five-day full immersion residential camp with two sessions during National Preparedness Month in September. The dates for this year's sessions are September 11-15 and September 18-22 (see the map to determine the camp for your region). Be Ready Camp is located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Intertwined throughout Be Ready Camp is the involvement of personnel with homeland security responsibilities at the local, state, and national level. The capstone of Be Ready Camp is a full scale mock disaster exercise incorporating the camp participants with first responders and citizens.
Who is Eligible to Attend Be Ready Camp?
All Alabama residents who will be in the sixth-grade by September 2012 are eligible to attend Be Ready Camp. Included with all applications should be a note from a parent/guardian allowing the student to be eligible to attend Be Ready Camp.
Curriculum
Be Ready Camp utilizes a modified Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training as its foundation and broadened to include additional lessons. Be Ready Camp curriculum includes: emergency preparedness, introduction to survival and first aid, developing an emergency kit, creating a family disaster plan, water survival, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, triage, career exploration, and terrorism awareness. Throughout each lesson, the participants have the ability to demonstrate their knowledge with hands-on demonstrations in addition to traditional assessment. The camp concludes with a mock disaster, where the youth perform victim search and rescue alongside professional responders in a realistic setting. The participants are tasked with bringing the message of preparedness and what they have learned to their families and their communities. Parents are invited to graduation, held the last morning of the camp, to reflect on the events of the past week and to celebrate the newfound skills of the participants. At this ceremony, each student is recognized individually for their efforts by receiving a commendation by Governor Robert Bentley and are tasked to educate their community on the importance of preparedness.
What is the Cost of Attending Be Ready Camp?
Be Ready Camp is free to participants who are selected. It is the responsibility of the participant’s parent/guardian to provide transportation to and from Huntsville, Alabama.
Who Sponsors Be Ready Camp?
Be Ready Camp is supported by multi-agency coordination at the local, state, and national level with the involvement of ServeAlabama (The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Volunteer Service), the Alabama Department of Homeland Security (ADHS), and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) partnered with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the Madison County Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center has state of the art facilities and has extensive experience in hosting residential programs such as Space Camp, Space Academy, Aviation Challenge, and X-Camp.
Selection Process
The selection process for Be Ready Camp is open to all Alabama residents who will be in the sixth grade by September 2012. Applicants must submit ONE of the following to be eligible and answer the question: What does being part of a safe community mean to me?
- Essay - 300-500 words in length Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and good paragraph structure apply. Typed or neatly written in ink.
- Poster - No larger than 11” X 17” Good use of imagination, color, and design. Clearly answers the question.
- Video - 30 seconds to 1 minute in length Imaginative, interesting, and creative.
Submissions are due by August 15, 2012 to:
Be Ready Camp
Eight Commerce Street, 10th Floor
Montgomery, Alabama 36104 334-954-7440
Or
Be Ready Camp Dates and Location
Be Ready Camp dates are based geographically according to the map on the right. Be Ready Camp is located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Registration is from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on the first day of Be Ready Camp. Graduation is at 9:30 a.m. on the last day of Be Ready Camp and parents are encouraged to attend graduation. Graduation is the conclusion of Be Ready Camp and the campers leave afterwards.