Pamplin Media Group – Meridian Creek Middle School students aim to make emergency preparedness fun

Wilsonville students develop a game dedicated to helping players learn how to prepare for an earthquake

Although news about an earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction area has raised awareness about the value of emergency preparedness in recent years, Wilsonville’s director of public works, Delora Kerber, remains concerned that there aren’t enough citizens on Knowledgeable and even fewer willing.

A group of Meridian Creek Middle School students hope to change that.

“All the messages we can get to bring this point home are wonderful,” Kerber said.

With the help of a $ 5,600 grant from the Wilsonville government through the Metro Community Enhancement program, the Awesomebots Robotics team will develop a board game that helps players learn how to prepare for an earthquake. Meridian Creek may use the game in classes.

“We are very proud of this group of students who have had great vision and support and guidance to see their vision bear fruit,” said Meridian Creek principal Anniki Olson.

Seventh graders, which include Sophia Kolb, Wilder Dobley, Ethan Grant, Brady Grant and Nathan Hirschman, came up with the idea while participating in the FIRST Lego League, which helps students develop science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. . In a competition, students were tasked with finding a solution to a community problem. In light of reports that the Cascadia Subduction region had triggered a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest and a recent visit to the Oregon State University tsunami laboratory, they chose to prepare for the emergency. The group later conducted a survey that confirmed Kerber’s concerns about a lack of awareness.

“A lot of people don’t even know about the Cascadia rush area,” said coach Jason Kolb.

They felt the game could make learning about aptitude much easier. Kolb also noted that children played an important role in getting parents to start wearing seat belts decades ago.

“(The game) is the same theory,” Kolb said. “Have the kids learn about the Cascadia flooding zone and have their parents ready for it.”

In the game, players respond to various emergency scenarios such as an outbreak of cholera (caused by contamination of food or water) and have to play cards that represent sound solutions.

“If you have a (card) two-bucket system or (card) hand sanitizer, you can run that to fight the card (cholera outbreak),” Kolb said.

Some of the other lessons the game teaches include having cash, keeping a picture of your pet on hand so that you can post it in case the pet is lost and providing adequate food for everyone in your home including your pets, among other things.

Students presented the game to the Wilsonville Department of Public Works and the department provided pointers on how to make the game better reflect how individuals should respond to emergency scenarios.

“I thought it was a very creative idea that would be some way to help make learning about emergency preparedness more exciting, especially where children can play with parents and siblings – the whole family can learn more about it,” Kerber said.

The officials then recommended students apply for the scholarship program to obtain funding for the production of the game. Culp and the company applied and the city council agreed to award the grant. The grant will help the team make 100 copies of the game, and Kolb said the money will go in large part to hire a professional to create more attractive artworks for the game than the clip art they used in the beginning.

“We were talking about a year to possibly get it out of production,” he said. “We will try to do this even with the case of COVID which is rather difficult but doable.”

The team also won the Global Innovation Award in the Lego League Game Competition, which made them eligible to apply for a national competition.

Students also presented the game concept to the Meridian Creek Regional Emergency Management Committee.

Olson envisions that the game could be used in science, wellness, and other classes once fully developed.

“It (emergency preparedness) definitely comes through a variety of seasons and themes. (The game) could be a nice complement to that,” she said. “(Preparedness lessons) are part of the health and wellness standards as well as reflecting on our scientific standards and understanding the impacts of natural disasters. (The game) becomes a point of contact for students.”

Kolb also said that the group may distribute toys to the Wilsonville library and other facilities in the city, and she anticipates it can create future releases that address other disasters such as hurricanes or tornadoes.

“The core of the game is that you are living in disaster to some degree,” Kolb said.

Regardless of whether or not the game takes off, Kolb said children are learning valuable life lessons and skills.

He said, “It is teaching children (to know) what is the best answer, and what is the most appropriate answer.” “For me, this is a really good preparation for life. In life there isn’t always one right answer. This project is one of those where we could have done a number of different things and decided what they thought was the best.”

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