School Safety Drills: The Great Montana ShakeOut
The Great Montana ShakeOut is an opportunity for Montanans to join people from across the world to practice earthquake safety and serves as a great opportunity for schools to practice a yearly school safety drill with students and school staff. This year’s national ShakeOut day is October 17th, however, schools can identify any day that works well for them. For more information and to register, please see the Great Montana ShakeOut event flier or visit www.shakeout.org.
You can also find more information on school safety and disaster drills on the OPI’s Emergency Planning and Safety website. Montana law (MCA 20-1-402) requires schools to hold at least eight disaster drills during the school year during different hours of the day or evening, to avoid distinction between drills and actual disasters. Schools are allowed to choose which drills they practice, can practice the same drill multiple times, and are encouraged to align school disaster drills with the school’s emergency operations plan to identify what safety hazards they should prioritize preparing for. We also encourage school staff to review this resource, Considerations for Conducting Disaster Drills, for more information about how and when to involve students in drills, and how to avoid causing unintentional harm while conducting school disaster drills.
Catch My Breath
Free online youth vaping prevention curriculum training for educators.
Join Liz Hall from the American Lung Association for a 2-hour online course on Thursday, October 24th from 4-6 pm. Attendees will receive 2 OPI renewal units.
CATCH My Breath is a free, evidence-based youth vaping prevention program with published evidence of reducing students’ likelihood to vape. Aligned to national and state education standards, the CATCH My Breath vaping prevention curriculum covers age-appropriate lessons for grades 5-12.
Register Here to take the online course with Liz Hall on October 24, 2024, from 4-6 pm.
For more information about the Catch My Breath vaping prevention program follow this link.
Contact Kris Minard (406) 444.0785 or Beth Dominicis for more information.
Red Ribbon Week, our nation's largest and longest-running drug-use prevention campaign will be celebrated October 23-31 this year. Go to their website for a list of activities for students or download their planning guide for free!
Download these coloring pages from the OPI Tobacco Use Prevention Education website to add some healthy, tobacco-free focused coloring pages for your students to enjoy during Red Ribbon Week.
The Tobacco Use Prevention Education program provides tobacco use prevention resources to Montana schools. OPI’s two program specialists, Dr. Beth Dominicis and Kris Minard also provide free age-appropriate tobacco use prevention presentations for students in grades 4-12, focused primarily on nicotine/e-cigarette prevention. Inquire here about scheduling presentations for your schools. Presentations are currently booking into November and are free to Montana schools.
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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