Submitted by: COL (Ret) J.G. Howard
Photo Credit: 1SG (Ret) Daryl Hayes
On December 14, 2022, the W.A. Hough Army JROTC Program (Cornelius, NC) partnered with the American Red Cross to educate kindergarten thru second grade students at Cornelius (NC) Elementary School (CES) on fire safety. To accomplish this important task the Husky Battalion utilized the Red Cross’ Prepare with Pedro Program.
Prepare with Pedro is an education program for grades K-2 that uses a story about a penguin (Pedro) to teach students how to “…BE PREPARED and TAKE ACTION for either home fires or a local hazard”, with the goal of the students sharing what they learned with their friends, family, and other loved ones. It is a well designed initiative that enabled Cadets to prepare, execute and evaluate instruction, but it did require the battalion to invest a significant amount of time on this project. Prepare with Pedro not only involved the Red Cross providing the Cadets with teaching materials, but also included a significant amount of training that included online and in-person instruction and evaluation.
However, the hard work paid off. Cornelius Elementary School teachers and administrators praised the Cadets for being well prepared, while post-instruction assessments and teacher feedback showed that students learned the material and had fun doing it. Additionally, Cadet post-event reflections indicated that they got as much out of the event as the elementary school students did and had a lot of fun in the process. These positive outcomes have encouraged the Husky Battalion to keep the Prepare with Pedro Program as part of its adopt-a-school and service learning programs.
Top Photo: Cadets Joshua Crowson, Fiona Jones, Sara Maldarelli, Brianna Lefler, and Lucas Sands get students excited about learning fire safety
