Wil Wheaton on how to respond to being called a nerd

I was fortunate to attend a school, growing up, where not only were “nerd” qualities valued and nurtured but so were humanistic values.

I feel for any child who is bullied at school for shining brightly. To be honest, I’m not much of a Wil Wheaton fangirl but his response to a little girl, who asked how to handle being treated poorly, is laudable.

New SAT: Essay Optional, No Extra Penalties For Wrong Answers

To be honest, I don’t recall having to write an essay for the SAT when I was in high school.

MGT 310: Threat and Risk Assessment (THIRA) – Dec 9-10, 2013 in Gallup, NM

MGT 310: Threat and Risk Assessment (THIRA)

This course prepares participants to conduct a jurisdictional Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA). Participant activities focus on allowing the jurisdiction to understand threats and hazards and how the impacts may vary according to time of occurrence, season, location, and other community factors. This knowledge helps a jurisdiction establish informed and defensible capability targets. Participants will identify threats and hazards of concern, give the threats and hazards context, examine the core capabilities, set capability targets, perform vulnerability and consequence assessments, and apply the results. The course delivery combines lecture, small group discussions, participant activities, and multimedia scenarios to improve the jurisdiction’s capability to prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, or recover from all-hazards events.

December 9 & 10, 2013 in Gallup, NM        

This course is being managed by McKinley County OEM to register please go to the following link:

http://bit.ly/17xmyiE

Participants should work in one of the listed disciplines, have completed a WMD/terrorism awareness level course, or be approved by the local jurisdiction host. Completion of the online courses IS-700.a (NIMS – An Introduction) and AWR-160 (WMD/Terrorism Awareness for Emergency Responders) is recommended but not required. The DHS/FEMA NTED course AWR-160 is offered online by TEEX at: www.teexwmdcampus.com.

 

Preparing others financially for a major disaster

OK, I’ll admit that if the zombie apocalypse happens, we may not be able to get to our bank accounts, anyway (and, no, we won’t go there about money in the freezer). Most disasters, however, are well-addressed by normal preparedness plans. If you help others with financial preparedness, this University of Minnesota offering may be just the ticket:

via Ready.gov….

FREE DISASTER FINANCIAL RECOVERY WEBINARS
Natural disasters wreak havoc on families in more ways than one. It takes time for survivors to recover emotionally and financially. This webinar series will help professionals assist individuals and families with disaster financial recovery including:

• Becoming familiar with the “Recovery After Disaster: The Family Financial Toolkit”;
• Identifying key strategies and resources to help with financial recovery;
• Determining family financial picture; and
• Guiding families as they make financial decisions.

The hour-long webinars are held once a month November 26 – March 18 at 2pm CDT.

First Responder Resiliency Class (Roosevelt Co, NM)

The goal of this course is to understand, assess, plan, and apply the psychology of resiliency. The course will provide you with materials and techniques that you can apply throughout your life to help you assess situations and move forward smoothly through difficult and varied situations. Finally, the course is intended to serve as a decision model to help you determine if your resiliency skillset is adequate to support you or if you wish to pursue additional resiliency training.

 

Topics include:

Goal Setting, Sleep, Relaxation, Perspective,

ABCs, Empathy, and Social Support

December 7, 2013 (0800-1700)

Roosevelt Co. Sheriff’s Office

( 109 Airport Road, South of Portales)

 

Maximum Class of 30

This class is at no cost to the student. Fire, EMS and Law Enforcement CEUs have been applied for.

Lunch will be provided – please register by Dec. 5th at noon.

 

To Register and assure a seat, contact:

 

Larry Nelson, MS NMCEM

Director – EMS, Fire and Emergency Management Programs

575-562-2831

Lawrence.nelson@enmu.edu

Take Smokey Bear’s Fire Prevention Pledge

I just took Smokey’s pledge to:

BE SMART WHENEVER I GO OUTDOORS

• To use caution and common sense before lighting any fire.
• To understand that any fire I or my friends create could become a wildfire.
• To understand and practice proper guidelines whenever I or my friends create a fire outdoors.
• To never, ever leave any fire unattended.
• To make sure any fire that I or my friends create is properly and completely extinguished before moving on.
• To properly extinguish and discard of smoking materials.
• To be aware of my surroundings and be careful when operating equipment during periods of dry or hot weather.
• To speak up and step in when I see someone in danger of starting a wildfire.

…and I got a downloadable mask (see pic, above). If you don’t want to, I’ll bet you know some little ones who would love to do that!

Train ’em while they’re young.

FEMA Twitter Chat on Campus Preparedness

September is National Preparedness Month and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is hosting a live Twitter chat on campus readiness to discuss how colleges and universities throughout the nation can prepare for disasters, alert students and faculty during emergencies and share best practices.

FEMA, in partnership with DePaul University in Chicago, Boston College, Florida State University, and Virginia Tech, will facilitate the discussion, highlighting innovative ways that campuses can prepare for disasters.

Experts from these schools will answer questions regarding their emergency preparedness methods, best practices and lessons learned. Colleges, universities, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the online chat, and all are welcomed to follow the conversation and contribute using the #EDUprepChat hashtag on Twitter.

What: Live Twitter Chat on Emergency Preparedness for Colleges and Universities
Date: Wednesday, September 18th
Time: 1-2pm EDT
FEMA Twitter Handle: @FEMAlive
Conversation Hashtag: #EDUprepchat
Panel Institutions Handles: @BC_OEM, @FSUalerts, @DePaulU @behokieready

Santa Fe Police Citizen’s Academy

SANTA FE, N.M. – Santa Fe Police are looking for a few good men and women to participate in our Citizen’s Academy.

The Academy runs for 12 consecutive weeks in two hour sessions. Participants will learn about each aspect of law enforcement, our training and what it takes to be a Santa Fe Police Officer.

The purpose is to develop a relationship between law enforcement and the community through education and create a nucleus of responsible, well-informed citizens who can inform the public while offering any comments and ideas for solutions to problems facing SFPD.

Applications are now available for the next academy beginning on September 26, 2013. Sessions are held Thursdays at 6 p.m. and will be held at the main police station located at 2515 Camino Entrada.

Areas of training include Internet Crimes, Traffic Investigations, Detective-style work through Criminal Investigations, SWAT Training, and Domestic Violence Training.

There is a $45 application fee which will cover meals at every class and a polo shirt embroidered with the Police Citizens Academy logo.

To enroll stop by the main station or contact Officer Louis Montoya at (505) 955-2752 or lamontoya@santafenm.gov.

This is a wonderful way to learn more about police work and give back to The City Different!

Source: Nixle

McKinley County Holds First Preparedness & Public Safety Day Sep 14th, 2013

McKinley County is holding its first preparedness and public safety day event on Saturday, September 14th, at the Rio West Mall. It runs from 10am – 4pm. Be there and be aware!

Los Ranchos Citizen Corps Inaugural Event Saturday, Sep 7th 8-11am MDT

Saturday morning is the inaugural Los Ranchos Citizen Corps Community Preparedness Event at Growers’ Market. They’ll have a booth from Saturday from 8AM-11AM and be discussing family preparedness and have presentations on developing a go-kit and animal preparedness.

If you’re in the area, please stop by!