There is no trouble-free path to furthering education goals when lives are interrupted by the unreserved devastation of severe weather. But advisors and PLAN!T NOW have observed movements to uplift those most affected through opportunities for community college students nationwide. The Wall Street Journal observed in an April 21, 2010 article that community colleges are ready to meet that challenge, taking deliberate steps at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges in Seattle. According to the Journal, “Officials representing hundreds of two-year colleges across the U.S. signed a ‘call to action,’ pledging to boost student-completion rates 50% over the next decade. Currently only 40% of community-college students complete their programs.”PLAN!T NOW offers a program that will provide grants for persons pursuing two-year degrees because we believe in the power of community colleges to affect, with fuller reverberation, coastal communities. We had begun to investigate Louisiana’s drive to ensure a connection between the state’s graduating student population and job opportunities by directing resources and messaging campaigns for the promotion of community college programs. More
Owlie, star of the Young Meteorologist Program game and website, set to fly in early 2012
In early 2012, PLAN!T NOW and its partners will introduce the Young Meteorologist Program (YMP), a free digital program that will teach students across the United States about severe weather facts and safety. Designed for students in grades 3-8, YMP is built around a game that follows the main character, Owlie, through five severe weather challenges as he, and the player, try to earn a Young Meteorologist Certificate. Through learning about hurricanes, lightning, floods, tornadoes and winter storms, players will learn how to be prepared for real-life severe weather and natural hazards.
Owlie, the game’s main character, is adapted from Owlie Skywarn, a longstanding part of severe weather education through the National Weather Service. The sound scientific lessons from the Owlie Skywarn illustrated workbook have been turned into a digital, 21st-century teaching tool.
PLAN!T NOW is joined in this project by key partners the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service, the National Education Association and the American Meteorological Society. More
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, taking the lives of approximately 1,800 Americans and causing more than $35 billion worth of damage. Shortly thereafter, Hurricane Rita made landfall along the coast of Louisiana and Texas, causing further destruction. More
Colorado State University researchers’ data predicted an active 2011 storm season, which was especially alarming due to the potential damage this year’s storms could bring to Haiti, where thousands are homeless or living in tent communities, and the Gulf Coast… More
Individuals impacted by coastal storms in impoverished regions can lack basic preparedness tools, creating conditions for severe impacts from hurricanes and other major storms.
Making public education tools available is important to all is important to reducing lives and property lost to disaster. More
