Education

Education
Disasters can occur anytime and anywhere, and when a disaster strikes, you may not have time to respond. A spill of hazardous material could mean
instant evacuation. A winter storm could confine your family at home for an extended period of time. An earthquake, flood, tornado or any other
natural disaster could suddenly cut off basic services, such as gas, water, electricity, and telephone for days.

The first step for disaster preparedness is education. The NERT classroom is mobile as EMTU’s visit schools, hospitals and other emergency service
organizations, and our educational task force provides emergency preparedness instruction. EMTU’s provide a hands on experience and “Ready
Freddy” brings the education experience to young and old alike.

Student Program
NERT's education program is geared toward young children of elementary school ages and effectively
assisted by our mascot Ready Freddy. Together with EMTU's, Ready Freddy travels to community schools
and provide an educational experience for children that is non-threatening and on a level children can
easily understand.

The NERT Educator Kit includes resources and suggested plans to assist the instructor, as well as materials from video,
audio, and print sources for classroom presentation.

Some of the materials in this kit have been created by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), American Red
Cross, Scholastic Books, and Harper Trophy Books. We thank Bell Atlantic for producing our “Ready Freddy Disaster
Preparedness Coloring Book”, and for helping to sponsor distribution of these teacher resource kits. These
organizations have helped NERT to carry out its motto of “People Helping People.”

The mascot for NERT's Education Division is a squirrel named Ready Freddy who has gathered disaster supplies in
preparation for an emergency. We know that the knowledge you share with your students will help them and their
families to be better prepared to handle disasters that may occur in their communities.

Thank you for helping them to answer in the affirmative when they hear the question, “FREDDY IS READY, ARE YOU?”