RESERVE — East St. John Elementary School students recently learned how to prepare for emergencies during the American Red Cross Masters of Disaster program.

Red Cross representative Kendrick Jackson spent the week of Dec. 2 teaching lessons about fire safety and prevention to kindergarten, first, second, sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

Eighth-grader Jakeem Brown said he believes he is more prepared to handle an emergency.

“The presentation made me feel prepared for any type of fire,” Brown said.

“He had great safety tips. I learned to check and change the battery on our smoke alarm too.”

The American Red Cross puts together lessons and age-appropriate materials to raise awareness of disaster risk and build resiliency. The Masters of Disaster program is designed to help reduce children’s anxiety about unknown aspects of disasters and tragic events and to gain confidence to deal successfully with life’s unexpected turns.

Sixth-grader Jai Gaines said the program did just that.

“I learned to crawl low and go,” Gaines said.

“I liked the presentation because it was really informational. I feel prepared to know how to get out of my house if there would be a fire.”