Kids Teaching Flood Resilience

Welcome to KTFR

Kids Teaching Flood Resilience is a community resilience building initiative founded in 2016 by Dr. Merrie Koester of the University of S.C. Center for Science Education. This STEAM curriculum was developed in Charleston County School District schools and positions youth as resources of knowledge and resilience about what to notice, know, and do in the event of extreme weather.

KTFR employs STEAM education methods designed to show that resilience building is a creative, collaborative, and generative process. The curriculum content has been vetted by a robust of team of STEM Thought Leaders, including NOAA National Weather Service meteorologists, stormwater engineers, hydrologists, GIS specialists, emergency management directors, city resilience planning and public relations specialists.

This work was made possible by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (award #NA23OAR4170319) and completed in collaboration with partners at the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, The Citadel (The STEM Center, and the Near Center for Climate Studies), NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program, and NOAA National Sea Grant College Program.

Centering Thought Leadership

A key goal of KTFR is for youth to imagine themselves entering the workforce in “Resilience Careers” through mentoring from Thought Leaders in fields like hydrology, meteorology, stormwater engineering, conservation and environmental science, emergency and flood plain management, communication and other media arts, plus  a wide array of public health and social services.

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following KTFR community Thought Leaders to date:

Dr. Jennifer Albert / Director, The Citadel STEM Center

Dr. Melanie Blanton / Citadel STEM Center

Jared Bramblett / Senior Water Resources Engineer, Moffatt and Nichol, Co-Author Charleston Water Plan

Michael Horton / Chief Engineering Officer, Davis and Floyd

Ron Morales, Emily McGraw, Blair Holloway / NOAA NWS Charleston, S.C.

Mark Wilbert / Former Chief Resilience Officer, City of Charleston

Shannon Scaff / Former Emergency Management Director, City of Charleston

Daniel Flessas / Emergency Management Specialist, City of Charleston

Butch Barfield / Former Emergency Management Director, City of North Charleston

Dr. Scott Curtis / Director James Near Center for Climate Studies/ The Citadel

Lorna Roberts / Singer, Songwriter, and Music Educator

Lamar Hunter / Dance Choreographer and Videographer

Tony Bell / Founder, Owner, Bell Digital Media

Adam Chandler / Photographer

Doug Marcy / Senior Coastal Hazards Specialist, NOAA Office of Coastal Management

Katie Gerling / Floodplain Manager, City of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Dr. Sara McDonald / Director of Conservation, S.C. Aquarium

Aubrey Anthony / Resilience Coordinator, S.C. Aquarium

Brian Pokrant, Robert Hauck, Casey Conrad / GIS Specialists, City of Charleston, S.C.

Shu Mei Huang / GIS Specialist, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and College of Charleston

Kaylan Koszela / Director, Office of Resilience, City of Charleston

Robin Kidd / Stormwater Outreach Coordinator, City of Charleston

Jordyn Mallett / Stormwater Engineer, City of Charleston

Cailyn Spedding / College of Charleston Graduate Student

KTFR Teacher Leader Curriculum Development Team

Since 2016, a cohort of dedicated Charleston County School District science teacher leaders have worked with Dr. Koester to field test the emerging KTFR curriculum. Their insights and input have been invaluable.

Diane Hastings

Mary Adeogun        

Maria Royle

Horace Allen            

Julianna Ridenhour

Jessica Herbert     

Mary Jacob McKinley         

Diane Faucette

Victoria Culbertson

KTFR Fieldwork Charleston County School District Principals

We celebrate the contributions of the following Charleston County School District school principals and the schools they led during our KTFR field work with their teachers: 

Dr. Shawn Johnson / Charleston Development Academy

Nathan Nelson / Simmons Pinckney Middle School

Cheryl Swinton / Burke High School

Jeremy Carrick / Stall High School

Stephanie Flock / Morningside Middle School

Stephanie Spann / Simmons Pinckney Middle School

Mary Carmichael / Charleston Charter School of Math & Science

Dr. Robert Perrineau, Jr. / Military Magnet Academy