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Teacher Shares Message Of Hurricane Preparedness

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By MEGAN HUSSEY, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 11, 2007

With the help of a $45,000 Florida Learn & Serve Grant, Gulf High School reading coach Victoria Mudry has spread the word about hurricane preparedness among her students and Pasco County.

Now, thanks to an invitation from the Florida Department of Education, she has spread the message to hundreds of children in Puerto Rico.

This month, Mudry flew to San Juan, where she addressed students at four schools.

She also visited San Juan's Department of Education, where she talked with the Puerto Rican secretary of state, San Juan's school superintendent and school board members.

"I presented the hurricane preparedness projects we did at Gulf High, giving related PowerPoint presentations and videos to the teachers in San Juan, so they can do similar projects," she said. "And I got information about the type of environmental projects they've been doing."
Mudry was part of a Florida delegation of teachers handpicked because of the success of their Learn & Serve projects.

Along with Mudry, two teachers from Miami-Dade County and one from Lake County went, she said.

Florida Learn & Serve is a federally funded program, administered through the state Department of Education, that awards grants to schools and school districts to engage youth in service-learning.
Mudry received her $45,000 grant for her "The Power is On II" project and secured additional funding from local businesses and agencies.

She completed the hurricane preparedness project last summer with the help of 85 students. The project involved the cleanup of local parks, working with the Pasco Quilters Guild to make blankets and pillows for storm shelters and putting together hurricane readiness kits.

"For older people in the community, who we located through (Community Aging and Retirement Services) and other agencies, we made kits with medical cards, flashlights, whistles and other items," she said.

"For kids, we made kits with coloring books, crayons and reflection books they can take to the storm shelter with them. They can record their thoughts and feelings in the books."

Student teachers and faculty members in San Juan shared their own ideas, including soil and water testing projects and growing edible plants for agencies that serve disadvantaged people.

"They made me necklaces from recycled paper and a bowl from a coconut, and when I left, some of the students cried," Mudry said.

Schools in San Juan have been instituting environmental projects that ask students to take an active role in maintaining their surroundings and helping their communities. Their efforts drew the attention of the Department of Education, which organized the informal exchange.
Mudry left San Juan with an invitation to return anytime; she hopes to go back with some of her students.

In the meantime, she and several students will present their ideas this week at the Service Learning Conference in Orlando.

"It's wonderful to see, both here and in Puerto Rico, how education is valued," she said.

Jeff Morgenstein, supervisor of ESOL and world languages for Pasco County schools, said Mudry's efforts will help broaden ideas and diversity within the school system.

"When teachers go abroad, they think and feel the deep culture of the place they visit," he said. "Then when they return to the classroom, they can see things through the eyes of their international students.

"They can help their classmates understand the unique cultures of these students."

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