Texas School Safety Center honored with FEMA preparedness award

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
September 19, 2013

The Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University has been honored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a recipient of the 2013 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Awards.

The Texas School Safety Center was recognized for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Preparedness. The awards recognize individuals who have taken action to prepare their communities. This year, highlighted accomplishments were achieved between Jan. 1, 2012 and June 5, 2013.

“We can only be prepared for disasters if we have strong leadership in our communities,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “Today’s winners represent a cross-section of our community and demonstrate how emergency management is a shared responsibility.”

The finalists each demonstrated remarkable innovation and creativity in preparing and supporting their communities. For example, the Texas School Safety Center developed a statewide approach to emphasize youth preparedness by establishing a youth preparedness summer camp that included emergency and community specific action planning in addition to leadership development.

FEMA received nearly 200 applications from faith-based, non-profit, private sector, and community-based organizations, as well as individuals. Leadership from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FEMA, with input from representatives of the whole community, selected this year’s winners from among applicants from 39 States and the District of Columbia.

Recipients of FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Awards will be invited to a recognition ceremony in Washington, D.C. during National Preparedness Month. During the ceremony, recipients will share their community preparedness successes and lessons learned with emergency management leadership.

A complete list of this year’s recipients and the honorable mentions for each category is available at: www.ready.gov/citizen-corps-awards.

For more information, contact Texas School Safety Center Directory Victoria Calder at (512) 245-8082 or via email at vc16@txstate.edu.