Strength in Preparedness: How Uvalde Students Are Contributing to School Safety

Video Length | 1:17:31

Recorded | January 2026

Podcast Description

In 2025 the Youth of Uvalde student group received a School Safety Spotlight Award from the Texas School Safety Center for the development of a lockdown bucket, which they call Coyote Kits. In this Learning Lab episode, Kathleen Bates, Youth Initiatives Coordinator, sits down with members of the Youth of Uvalde (Y.O.U.) student group to discuss the lockdown bucket that was developed by Uvalde High School students after the tragedy at Robb Elementary.

They discussed how their project raised awareness about school safety, their thoughts on what school safety means to them, and how they took an active role in their own safety by developing the Coyote Kits.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a preparedness bucket, download the Classroom Preparedness Bucket Guide. You can also learn how to engage students in grades 1-12 in emergency preparedness by visiting Ready.gov/kids for curriculum lesson plans, games, social media toolkits, and more.

Learning Lab Host

Kathleen Bates

Kathleen Bates, MS

Kathleen Bates is the Youth Initiatives Program Manager at the Texas School Safety Center, located at Texas State University. Kathleen is dedicated to educating and empowering people of all ages to support healthy communities and has actively engaged in prevention work since graduating...with her bachelor’s in 2012. Her background comes from the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Awareness where the love of working with youth and communities truly flourished. Kathleen holds two degrees, a Bachelor of Science specializing in community health from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Master of Science in public health education and promotion from Texas State University.
Read More >>

Podcast Available On

Podcast Produced By: Youth School Safety Program, Youth & Community Initiatives Division