SECAHEC has partnered with Sandia Labs to bring an innovative new program for high school kids to Colorado for the first time. Rye High School in Rye and Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs are only the 6^th and 7^th schools to participate in this program in the country.

The program runs for about 6 weeks and is structured around simulated natural disasters (including pandemics), industrial accidents, or terrorist incidents in either the student’s hometown or a fictional location. Sandia staff, Dr Annette Sobel (retired Major General and former director of intelligence for the National Guard Bureau and a former air surgeon), and John Taylor (Nuclear Engineer and Manager of the Integrated Technologies and Systems Strategic Management group Support Department  at Sandia National Laboratories), will visit the classrooms 3 times to work with students and run tabletop exercises.

The program includes basic instruction in homeland security and emergency response, and case studies focused on particular aspects of emergency response. The program culminates with a half-day scenario-based exercise in which student teams representing local, state, and federal entities are confronted with a realistic accident, incident, or natural disaster in a series of time steps, each of which requires the students to react to the scenario, to interact with each other, and to discuss issues and problems. The students are then asked to write up the exercise with an emphasis on lessons learned. At the end of the program, students are asked to brief their local school boards and/or state officials on their program.

The students and their teachers are invited to the High School Homeland Security Leadership Development Camp and Curriculum Development Workshop in Roswell, New Mexico for a week-long program in June. This camp is co-sponsored by the New Mexico Military Institute and Sandia National Laboratories.

SECAHEC is excited to be able to bring this kind of opportunity to Colorado students through its work with the Southwest Center for Public Health Preparedness, and to assist in its continued development as a program for high school students.

Click here for more information about this exciting new program!