A group of middle school students are ready to assist should an emergency arise. They have completed the FEMA STEP (Student Tools For Emergency Planning) Program under the supervision of Frank Farance, the emergency training coordinator for Millennium Development.
The students, who attend Roy H. Mann, Marine Park I.S. 278, Fillmore Academy and Cunningham, were present at last week’s concert in Marine Park and are pictured with Assemblywoman Jaime Williams, Farance, Donald Cranston and Millennium Executive Director Paul Curiale.
Williams said the program “gets kids engaged and keeps their minds active.” STEP teaches students about disasters, emergencies and hazards and how to create disaster supply kits and family emergency communication plans.
Farance told the Canarsie Courier that these middle schoolers, some who also Boy and Girl Scouts, can have a large influence on their families by bringing the knowledge they have gained through the program back to their parents. He said the training has been interactive too. “We have been successful in having the students interact without technology. It’s all hands-on and interacting with people.”