Problem: Fire safety education materials tend to focus on elementary-age students. Few materials provide developmentally appropriate instruction for high school students. Teachers and administrators also expect materials to comply with state guidelines for instruction, which makes it difficult to adapt materials for use by high school students.

Solution: My department was responsible for developing an all-level curriculum that complied with standards dictated by the state education department. For the high school level, I researched courses that related to the health and economic benefits of fire prevention. I then researched, developed and field-tested five-part curriculum guides for two high school courses. Each of the 10 lessons correlated to state-education standards. The curriculum guides were then published by the State Fire Marshal’s Office and distributed free to Texas schools.

Results: More than 60 percent of Texas schools implemented the curriculum in their academic programs. The series was listed in ERIC and is still used by the Texas Department of Insurance. (The entire series, Fire Safety for Texas, can be downloaded from the State Fire Marshal’s web site.)

Continue reading to see a sample lesson from Fire Safety for Texans: A Lifetime for Fire Safety (High School Health).