Thursday, November 13, 2008

Fire Drill on Sunday, Nov. 16

In order to better prepare teachers and kids for what to do in case of emergency, we will hold a fire drill midway through class on Sunday for each of the RE classes (except the nursery).  

Teachers will wait for my signal, at which point classes will line up and exit through the nearest (front) door. Teachers and assistants (and advisors, in the case of the youth group) will lead the children and youth out of the church, and down the block to the corner of Franklin and Cathedral streets, in front of the Mount Vernon Hotel. In the case of an actual emergency, this corner is the meeting point for parents to reunite with their children, including infants and toddlers. During Sunday's drill parents will not be meeting us. Rather, once all the kids are accounted for, we will return to church to continue classes.

Unless you'll be teaching on Sunday, you needn't participate in the fire drill, but I wanted to keep families in the loop about our plans.  If appropriate, you may wish to use this opportunity to talk with your family at home about emergency preparedness.  

There are many excellent resources online:

• In addition to Liberty Mutual's interactive website on fire safety here, you can also find downloadable instructions for creating your family's own fire escape plan, a Fire Fighter coloring book and more.

• In an emergency, it may be helpful to have clear and up to date medical information for your entire family. Download a family medical information form here.

• See the American Red Cross website for what to include in an evacuation plan and how to prepare an emergency kit.

If you know of other resources that families might find useful, please let us know by leaving a comment!

No comments: