Buy a Photo!
Instructors from the American Red Cross, Santa Barbara County Chapter, trained 15 Foster Grandparents from the Tri-Counties Regional Center Foster Grandparents Program. They were trained in “Masters of
Disaster,” a national Red Cross curriculum that teaches children the science behind natural disasters and how to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters.//Kevin Boland/Staff
Fifteen “foster grandparents” filled the Del Cielo Mobile Home Estates clubhouse in Santa Maria recently to learn how to teach children everything they need to know about natural disasters.
The seniors were learning how to teach the American Red Cross “Masters of Disaster” program, a comprehensive curriculum in which kids learn the science behind natural disasters and what to do in the event one occurs.
“I learned some things myself about what to do in an emergency,” said Cherie Alquist of Oceano.
Alquist is a “foster grandparent” working in a classroom of learning disabled students at Fairgrove Elementary School in Grover Beach.
The Foster Grandparent program - which is run through the California Department of Developmental Services - pairs low-income seniors with students at local schools who are battling various learning disabilities.
The “grandparents” spend at least 15 hours per week tutoring the students, and in return receive a small, tax-exempt stipend.
“It's so much fun,” Alquist said of the program. “I've never had so much fun and gotten paid for it.”
The Red Cross teamed up with the Foster Grandparents program in the hopes that the seniors will incorporate the “Masters of Disaster” training into their tutoring sessions, said the Red Cross' director of volunteers and youth.
Julie Jeakle said what makes the curriculum unique is the science component.
“(The kids) have a better understanding of (disasters) so it makes it less scary for them,” she said. “The greater goal is for them to go home and tell their families about what they learned.”
The “foster grandparents” sat recently eating sandwiches and chili following the nearly three-hour training session.
Bernice Buckler is stationed with the Orcutt Union School District, with May Grisham School as her “home base.”
“I love the kids,” said the mother of six grown children. “That's why I do these programs.”
Buckler said she plans to present the curriculum to the teacher she works with at Grisham.
“Hopefully, we get some of (this) program into the schools. That's where it really needs to be, and that would make me very happy,” she said.
For more information about the Foster Grandparent program, call Diane Slais at 884-7226.
For more information about the Masters in Disaster program, call Julie Jeakle at 687-1331, ext. 115.
Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or
nragus@santamariatimes.comFebruary 2, 2008
Email a friend
Printer friendly