New Frontiers in the StormReady® Program
Marcie Katcher
NOAA Office of Communications
National Weather Service Eastern Region
January 15, 2009 — John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington, N.C., has become the first high school in the country to earn designation as a StormReady® Supporter. This designation means that Hoggard established severe weather safety plans and actively takes part in and promotes severe weather safety awareness. These efforts indicate that the Hoggard High community is prepared for a hurricane or other severe weather.
Presentation of StormReady® Supporter award to Hoggard High School in North Carolina, the first high school in the country to become a StormReady® Supporter. Pictured from left to right: Principal David Spencer, Hoggard High School; Warren Lee, emergency management director, New Hanover County; Nick Younghaus, senior student at Hoggard High School and Steve Pfaff, warning coordination meteorologist, Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. Photo credit: NOAA.
“Hoggard High School can be proud of this accomplishment and for paving the way for other high schools to take part in the StormReady® Supporter program,” said Steve Pfaff, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. “Its students and faculty will be better prepared in the event of severe weather.”
To achieve StormReady® status, the school met rigorous guidelines, including developing severe weather safety plans, actively promoting severe weather safety through awareness activities and conducting safety training.
This award is largely the result of work by Nicholas Younghaus, a Hoggard High senior who is autistic and who spearheaded the school’s efforts. Younghaus interned at the NWS Wilmington office and believes strongly in weather safety. He hopes to become a meteorologist one day.
“When you have autism, you can be labeled by others and not given the opportunity to make a contribution. This shows what autistic students can do if they are given the chance,” said Younghaus.
Younghaus is now promoting the principles and guidelines of the StormReady® program to other area schools, hoping to make New Hanover County Schools an example for the rest of the country.
“It is important for schools to become StormReady® Supporters since the program provides for a greater sense of awareness and a roadmap for creating a safer environment for our children,” said Warren Lee, emergency management director for New Hanover County.