A Flushing school was recognized for their work to prepare students for natural disasters.
NYC Emergency Management and the Department of Education presented the annual Ready School of the Year Award to PS/MS 219, who worked over the past few years to educate students about how to be ready for an emergency.
“Thanks to the hard work of teachers and staff who used class projects and creative lesson plans to prepare for emergencies, the students at PS/MS 219 know the importance of an emergency plan,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito. “For their commitment to safety and readiness, we are proud to honor PS/MS 219 with the 2018 Ready School of the Year Award.”
Over the course of three years, PS/MS 219 has worked with NYC Emergency Management to integrate emergency preparedness lessons into the classroom. Students learned how to prepare for emergencies such as fires, blizzards and hurricanes, how to pack a Go Bag and wrote an emergency plan.
“The families and staff of PS/MS 219 have all been affected by disasters large and small such as Hurricane Sandy or blizzards. These events are beyond our control,” said Principal Fred Wright. “We are happy that we have better skills to respond to these unforeseen situations with confidence to keep ourselves safe. We thank the NYC Emergency Management Department and Ready Girl for all the support we have received.”
As a part of the award ceremony, students from PS/MS 219 recently put on a presentation all about preparedness. Dozens of fourth and sixth graders performed two preparedness songs and put on a skit how to make an emergency plan.
“Children can read something in a textbook, but when they sing or act it out, they seem to remember it more easily,” said Sue Greenberg, special events coordinator and special education teacher at PS/MS 219. “If we educate our children at a young age and they share their wealth of knowledge with their friends and family, they will be prepared.”
