Perhaps one of the worst disasters in United States history, Hurricane Katrina is expected to have a lasting impact on the economies of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida with losses in the billions of dollars. Given that the economic foundation of the approximately 600 schools and libraries affected was far from ideal before the…

As a teacher educator who regularly teaches a multicultural education course, the author has often employed service-learning as a pedagogical strategy in assisting preservice teachers to understand better the various multicultural topics they discuss, such as racism, heterosexism, and sexism that impact their schools. Therefore, when she was…

Throughout the country and especially in Texas, local communities opened their arms to hurricane Katrina evacuees. Like the federal government, emergency health and mental health entities were unprepared for the massive numbers of people needing assistance. Mental health professionals, though armed with a wealth of crisis intervention information,…

New Orleans is looking for a few good teachers, principals and charter school operators. As state and local officials struggle to rebuild the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina 18 months ago, they are facing a severe shortage of talent willing and able to educate the fast-growing student population. The problem is especially stark in the schools…

"The Achiever" is a bi-monthly publication for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) President Urges Congress to Reauthorize Law; (2) Standing on Solid Ground: New Orleans School Reopens to High Demand; (3) Secretary's…

Describes a successful approach to integrating inquiry into college non-laboratory science courses for nonmajors by building on students' innate curiosity about natural disasters. (SAH)

Provides a brief overview of events that have contributed to the development of what currently constitutes disaster-crisis mental health counseling, an area of counseling that has gained increased clinical attention and empirical focus within the field of mental health counseling. (Author)

What's the worst thing that can happen to a computer? Worse than a hard disk crash, virus infection, spare assault, denial-of-service attack, hacker take-over, fire, flood or some other human, mechanical or natural disaster is a faulty backup when it is really needed. If the computer blows up, as long as the data is backed up securely, it can be…

As students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita continue returning to their home school districts in Louisiana and Mississippi, tens of thousands remain scattered elsewhere in those states, in nearby states, and across the nation. Months after schools began rolling out the welcome mat for families fleeing New Orleans and other storm-ravaged…

When a natural or man-made disaster strikes, there is usually little time for citizens to prepare and protect themselves. In September 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Defense implemented a National Response Plan dealing with many forms of disaster. However, when a disaster hits, not all citizens are equally prepared or protected. A sample of…

Using the diary of Kim Stasny, superintendent of the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District in Mississippi, and accounts from other superintendents from areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, the author describes the grim situation faced by schools in the days and weeks after the storm struck. He then discusses the importance of getting students…

Two-dozen students from the University of Virginia in January 2006 took part in a program that brings college students from around the US to help rebuild New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The program was part of an interdisciplinary two-week course that examined the impact of the hurricane through such diverse topics as…

Problem-based learning experiences that extend at least two weeks provide an opportunity for students to investigate a real-world problem while learning science content and skills in an exciting way. In this article, students are challenged by the president of the United States to serve as employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to…

Scientists have associated the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon with extreme climate events such as flooding in California, droughts in Australia, fires in Indonesia, and increased hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean. The popular media is constantly attributing individual storms to the ENSO phenomenon. The reality is that a…

Humanitarian psychological support as an organized field is relatively young. Pioneers in the field were involved primarily in providing psychological support to refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict and nonconflict situations. This article describes basic principles for the design of psychological support programs and…