Youth Pledge To Make Preparedness a Priority with New Programs
On August 29, 2015, nearly 650 participants gathered at the Pacific Star Resort and Spa on the island of Guam for the Guam Volunteers, Youth Preparedness, and Leadership Summit. FEMA Youth Preparedness Council Member Kiahna Lee Espia, founder and president of the Harvest Christian Academy Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Club, organized the event with support from the Guam Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense and the Governor’s Serve Guam! Commission. The participants of the summit joined the millions of people who took part in registered preparedness activities in collaboration with America’s PrepareAthon!
Identifying Champions and Advocates
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“In order to be successful with a community project, you need to look for champions,” said Espia. “I looked not only for champions, but also for preparedness advocates, related programs and projects, and support organizations and resources.”
Attendees included youth from local schools, faith-based organizations, and sports organizations; adult guardians and advisers; youth nonprofit organizations; and first responders.
Following a morning session, which highlighted Espia and her peers’ efforts in making youth preparedness a priority in Guam, community partners led a series of breakout sessions to discuss environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and a panel discussion on service learning. Defined as a teaching and learning approach, service learning integrates service into the community with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
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Creating a Legacy of Safety
During the summit, participants developed guiding principles for Espia’s Youth Preparedness Council Legacy Project, the Guam Youth Preparedness Program (GYPP). The program will be geared toward strengthening youth preparedness and keeping Guam’s residents safe. The Guam Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense officially appointed Espia as the island’s Volunteer Program Coordinator.
To continue to empower the youth of Guam, Espia continues to make progress with the Guam Youth Preparedness Program by coordinating the island’s Teen CERT program for students from Harvest Christian Academy and Tiyan High School, as well as supporting CERT trainings for five AmeriCorps programs.
On September 26, 2015, at the Agana Shopping Center in Hagatna, Guam Espia led a National Preparedness Month Grand Finale, which reached approximately 1,000 people.
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The event, which Espia also registered with America’s PrepareAthon!, included GYPP, the Teen CERT Program, and Service Learning Program alongside with other organizations as part of the preparedness and public outreach campaign. GYPP volunteers, Teen CERT members, and high school students distributed Learning Program brochures; Service Learning Program facts sheets in English, Tagalog, Chamorro, and other Micronesian dialects; CERT program brochures; Teen CERT program brochures; and school Teen CERT Club recruitment inserts.
Espia plans to establish youth preparedness organizations in all public and private high schools; villages; and nonprofit, faith-based, and youth sports organizations. She also plans to establish the Guam Youth Preparedness Coalition to enhance preparedness, hazard awareness, and community planning.
“Equipping and empowering the youth of today,” Espia said, “makes a more resilient and better prepared island of Guam tomorrow.”