SEDC was contracted to redesign the curriculum of the Teen Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) program for Serve DC, the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism. We first reviewed the FEMA Teen CERT Annex to understand the elements of the Teen CERT curriculum that must be covered in the program. We then modernized the program to include social media and to add some sophistication to the activities by accessing Federal and District resources. At the same time, SEDC conducted research on best practices and innovative approaches in CERT programs across the country and Teen CERT programs in particular.
We created lesson plans for the nine units that make up the Teen CERT program and developed content including Power Point slides, interesting activities with instructions, handouts and homework assignments, and a pre- and post- evaluation for the course.
SEDC created a Trainer’s Manual that included specific instructions on material that would be needed for each course, information to share with students, additional reference material, and alternate activities that the trainer could use to make the course more dynamic.