Spokane Safety Summit presenters shown above: Simone Ramel-McKay, Suzie Hanson, JoAnn Jordan and Ryan Ellsworth
The Private School Safety Summit at ESD 101 in Spokane brought together Eastern Washington admin and educator teams from more than a dozen different schools to learn about the most current best practices in emergency planning for schools. WFIS Executive Director Suzie Hanson welcomed the group, introduced presenters and thanked sponsor Tod Whitman from My247ed as well as WFIS board chair Dr. Duane Schafer of the Catholic Diocese for stopping by the meet the group.
The event was led by Disaster Preparedness Training Consultant JoAnn Jordan, who presented three informative training sessions and engaged with each summit participant directly throughout the day. JoAnn opened with What A Safety Plan Is & Isn’t, walked attendees through Incident Command Planning, and closed the day with the often overlooked, but ever important to have pre-established, Building A Strong Reunification Program. In addition, JoAnn facilitated a lively lunchtime discussions about ideas for growing school relationships with local law enforcement while the group feasted on a scrumptious catered taco bar from Senor Froggies of Spokane.
Attendees were impressed by Ryan Ellsworth’s presentation of the Rapid Responder Emergency Preparedness & Crisis Management System and the special pricing being offered to schools. Simone Ramel-McKay, Program Specialist with Greater Spokane Emergency Management for Public Education and Outreach, introduced a bounty of ideas and tools for living personally prepared so school staff will be effective at teaching emergency preparedness to their students and school communities. Feedback from Faith Orr, Elementary School Principal at Northwest Christian, “this was the best professional development I’ve been to. Its helped me take our school to the next level of preparedness.“
Thank you to everyone who came together to absorb information, collaborate, and discuss ideas for the benefit of all students in WA State. It was a gorgeous and sunny 88 degree day in Spokane and your commitment to participate in this vital training is applauded!
