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I have been waiting all summer long for August to get here. Not so much because the kids go back to school, but because I could write about another kit – for when the kids go back to school.
This is a kit that you should put together for your kids to take to school each year and leave in their locker or classroom in case of an emergency. This idea is good for elementary, middle school, Jr. High, and Senior high school students. (It is also a good idea for parents to have an emergency travel kit in the trunk of their car.)
School Emergency Kit
* Inexpensive backpack or small duffel bag
* 1 or 2 sealed bottles of water
* 1 or 2 Energy Bars/Candy Bars (remember - chocolate will melt and make a mess)
* Hard tack candy and/or gum
* Tennis shoes or boat shoes
* 2 pairs of cotton socks
* A pair of sweats (or change of clothes)
* Flashlight
* Poncho and/or umbrella
* Small first aid kit
* Whistle
* Toilet paper - one roll
* Small bottle of hand sanitizer and/or a small packet of wet wipes
* Money - You decide on the amount, but make sure that you have small change in coin as well as paper bills. Maybe a pre-paid card - if the power isn't out.
* Pictures, on a lanyard or necklace of some sort, of each member of your family. Mount the pictures on some cardstock and on the back write the name of the person in the photo, the address, contact names and phones numbers. It is best to have individual pictures instead of a group photo because the person is more recognizable. It would also be a good idea to have the pictures laminated. Each person in the family will need a set of every person in their family. These will need to be updated every year. The best time to do this is when you get school pictures because they are usually taken at the beginning of the year, or just get your digital camera out and get them done before school starts.
* You should also put any medical instructions such as allergies, asthma, diabetes, etc., on the back of the pictures before you laminate them.
* Include a letter from the parents with instructions on what to do in case of an emergency at school and a letter of assurance that all will be well and that you will be together again as a family.
As a parent/student, you need to ask your teachers if they personally know what your local School District’s policy is for the different types of emergencies (i.e., earthquake, chemical spill, person/group takeover, extreme storms and power outage, etc.). You need to know more than what to do for a fire drill – each disaster will be treated differently. Do not let administrators or teachers tell you that you can read it in the school district information guide (you will already have done this), make sure that THEY know the policy themselves and what needs to be done. Make sure that they reviw and explain it to all of their students at the beginning of school. Do this in each of your classes. Maybe the school could hold an assembly for the entire school. If the teachers don’t know the policy, tell them that you are assigning them homework and to get acquainted with the policy. Give them a short quiz and grade them. They will understand that.
Dawn