By Walter Peña, Director of Operations
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck Japan. It was a school day, and YIS was full of students and staff. None of our current students were at YIS that day, and today we are on a different campus with a new generation of students, families, and staff. But we still have people in our community who remember that afternoon very well.
They remember that everyone put the students first. The school had not practiced any preplanned emergency procedures, but people stepped up wherever help was needed. Nearby YIS families opened their homes to students who could not get home and staff stayed with students and supported each other. Our community has many stories from that day that form a collective memory of the experience and I would like to share them in a separate article. But those experiences give some important context to what we practiced on September 1.
September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day in Japan, referencing the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. At YIS, students decided to rename it as “Disaster Day’.
Disaster Day didn’t come together overnight. Planning started months before. The school liaised with the Yokohama Fire Department, which kindly offered personnel and equipment for our Disaster Awareness Fair. They also presented to our MS and HS students with themes and content coordinated with our school leadership team and materials translated in advance.
We also prepared the drills, schedules, equipment, emergency supplies, and communication tools. But there was something else we needed to practice: how we work together as a community when our normal routines are disrupted.
And then came Disaster Prevention Day.
Our ES students experienced the earthquake truck and smoke house, saw the fire truck, and learned how to use fire extinguishers. Our MS/HS students took part in Fire Department presentations. We also ran our fire, earthquake, tsunami, and vertical evacuation drills.
Students and staff practiced what to do and where to go, staff moved into their emergency roles, and parent volunteers supported the Fair. Each drill was a chance to test our procedures, communication, timing, and movement around campus.
And the biggest test came at the end of the day: our Family Reunification Drill. This was a new experience for most of us, as YIS had not practiced as a whole community since March 2011. We intentionally used a mix of manual procedures supported by technology. In a real emergency, we want a process that centers on the care of our students. Around 500 parents and guardians came to campus. Across the school, 144 YIS staff members, including faculty, administrative, ancillary staff, plus our partners in security, Dragon Dining, and property maintenance, joined the drill.
I admit before we started, I was afraid our “Disaster Day” might actually become a disaster during family reunification! We were asking hundreds of people to follow a completely new process. Instead, what we saw was a very coordinated community effort.
The drill began at 3pm and officially finished at 4:25 pm, with only a few students waiting to be picked up. We learned many lessons about procedures we can improve, and details we will adjust based on feedback. That is exactly why we practice!
Emergency preparedness is about much more than equipment. We need to maintain and test our emergency supplies, communication tools and procedures, but we also need to practice how we respond together. And for that, we don’t need to wait another 15 years to practice again! We are still discussing when and how we will do this in the future, but our emergency drills will continue throughout this school year.
Preparedness doesn’t end when students leave campus. I hope Disaster Day can also be a reason to have a conversation at home. What would your family do if a major earthquake happened during the school day? How would you communicate if mobile phones weren’t working? Who could pick up your children? Where would you meet if you couldn’t get home?
Thank you to our students, parents, parent volunteers, staff, Fire Department, and all of our partners who made the day possible. Thank you for your patience, your understanding, your feedback and, most of all, your support!
In 2011, members of our community remember that when there was a real emergency, people stepped in and put students first. Today, we are in a different context, but this is still true! The resilience of our community is something we can continue to build. We cannot know exactly what the next emergency will look like. What we can do is prepare, practice, learn, and keep talking about it together.
Your feedback is an important part of that process, so please keep sharing it with us.