How
I can stay safer at school!
A
story for preparing children in schools for
emergencies and drills K - 3
Wilmington Public Schools
The
principal and teachers want children to be safe and happy at school. Teachers
tell us what to do when we are in our classroom, in the cafeteria, in the
bathroom, and playing outside. Teachers also help us practice what to do if
there is an emergency at
school. This is called a drill. It is important to listen to the teacher at
all times.
Sometimes
we have emergency drills; fire drills,
bus evacuation drills, and a new drill called ALICE. We do not always know when drills will
happen. We practice drills to stay safe.
Practice drills will only last a short time.
Usually, it is NOT a real emergency, just a practice.
During a fire drill we may hear a
loud alarm. During an ALICE drill there may be an announcement on the loudspeaker
that an intruder* has entered the
school. The teacher will say “Please
listen, there is an emergency”. We must
STOP and LISTEN. It is very important to
listen to your teacher and to do what the teacher asks you to do.
(*Intruder – a person who does not belong in
our school and who wants to do bad things in our school)
The
teacher may tell us to spread out at different spots in the room and remain
very quiet. We need to stay away from
the door. The teacher may have to turn
off all the lights and block the door.
It may be very dark. The teacher
may ask you to grab something to throw like a book, a water bottle, or a back
pack. The teacher may also ask you to
push desks and chairs in front of the classroom door.
It is
important to remain very quiet and wait.
If the intruder enters the classroom, it is okay to scream and throw the
books, water bottles, or backpacks at the intruder. The teacher may tell you to
run out of the classroom if you can.
We may
have to run to a different part of the school.
We may have to run outside and go to the special meeting place away from
the school like we do when we practice our evacuation drill.
During
an intruder emergency, police officers may come into school. Police officers help everyone stay safe. We must always listen to police officers.
They help everyone when there is an emergency.
During
a fire emergency, firefighters may come into the school. Firefighters help
everyone stay safe. We must always
listen to firefighters. They help everyone when there is an emergency.
We will
always be with a teacher. We must always
listen to the teacher and do what the teacher tells us to do. In some emergencies we may get on a bus or
walk to a different place with a teacher to meet our parents.
All
schools practice emergency drills. We
practice emergency drills so that we can stay safe and happy every day at school. We will continue to practice fire drills and
bus evacuation. We will also practice an
intruder emergency drill which we call ALICE drills by pushing desks and
chairs in front of our door and grabbing something to throw. We will also practice escaping from the classroom
and running outside to a safer place.
It is
very important for us to know what to do when there is an emergency at school
so we can be safe.
I like practicing being safe at school.
Draw a picture of yourself being safe in school.
