Minutes into Gloria Hurtado’s seventh-grade math class at Santa Rosa Middle School on Thursday, a rumbling noise erupted from the intercom.
It sounded like a major earthquake, and Hurtado’s 35 students immediately knew what to do: drop, seek cover and hold on.
“Duck and cover! Duck and cover!” Hurtado said as she moved toward the classroom’s doorway.
The students crouched beneath desks that were bunched together in small groups. Some giggled amid the unusual mid-morning scene. Then the rumbling noise abruptly stopped.
Part one of the earthquake safety drill was over. Hurtado led her students out to the school’s grass field, where classes lined up as teachers made sure everyone was safe, and checked attendance — just as they would do if …show more content…
Statewide, 10.6 million residents participated, according to the website. At Santa Rosa’s Helen Lehman Elementary School, Principal Alisa Haley said the exercise was an important reminder of the need for disaster preparedness.
“If you don’t practice, kids are not going to know what to do,” Haley said. “We give them the opportunity to practice in a calm situation. ... Then, if something truly does happen, at least they have something to reflect on.”
At Sonoma State University, officials used ShakeOut to test their emergency notification system, which sent campuswide emails, text messages and phone calls about the exercise and encouraged everyone to participate, according to Missy Brunetta, SSU’s director for emergency services. Faculty were asked to incorporate earthquake preparedness and emergency response into their curricula, even if their instruction schedule barred them from being able to participate in the physical exercise, Brunetta said.
That is key because some students might never have experienced an earthquake before or grown up in an area where preparing for one was uncommon, Brunetta.
“We want to make sure they’re given the exposure and they understand the procedure,” she
It sounded like a major earthquake, and Hurtado’s 35 students immediately knew what to do: drop, seek cover and hold on.
“Duck and cover! Duck and cover!” Hurtado said as she moved toward the classroom’s doorway.
The students crouched beneath desks that were bunched together in small groups. Some giggled amid the unusual mid-morning scene. Then the rumbling noise abruptly stopped.
Part one of the earthquake safety drill was over. Hurtado led her students out to the school’s grass field, where classes lined up as teachers made sure everyone was safe, and checked attendance — just as they would do if …show more content…
Statewide, 10.6 million residents participated, according to the website. At Santa Rosa’s Helen Lehman Elementary School, Principal Alisa Haley said the exercise was an important reminder of the need for disaster preparedness.
“If you don’t practice, kids are not going to know what to do,” Haley said. “We give them the opportunity to practice in a calm situation. ... Then, if something truly does happen, at least they have something to reflect on.”
At Sonoma State University, officials used ShakeOut to test their emergency notification system, which sent campuswide emails, text messages and phone calls about the exercise and encouraged everyone to participate, according to Missy Brunetta, SSU’s director for emergency services. Faculty were asked to incorporate earthquake preparedness and emergency response into their curricula, even if their instruction schedule barred them from being able to participate in the physical exercise, Brunetta said.
That is key because some students might never have experienced an earthquake before or grown up in an area where preparing for one was uncommon, Brunetta.
“We want to make sure they’re given the exposure and they understand the procedure,” she