Back to Blog Listing

The southern United States faces unique challenges when it comes to severe weather, including a high prevalence of nighttime tornadoes, a large mobile home population and communities with limited access to resources and safe shelters. VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement is hosting our Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer Workshop at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, on Thursday, April 3. This training is designed specifically for public librarians and local leaders looking to bring life-saving information to their communities. 

A woman in a black shirt stands in front of a classroom, pointing at a projected slide titled "Tornado Sheltering Guidelines." The slide categorizes different sheltering options from worst to best. A table in front of her is covered with emergency preparedness supplies, including bottled water, first aid kits, and food items. The classroom has a projector screen and desks arranged for participants.
Tracie Sempier, of Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant and VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement, discusses places that are safer and less safe for sheltering from a tornado during a Weather Wise workshop. (Photo by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant)

Libraries are trusted domains for public education, and their accessibility makes librarians key collaborators in educating communities to stay safe before, during and after extreme weather events like tornadoes. However, this event is open to volunteers who are not librarians but are interested in becoming Weather Wise partners. 

Workshop participants will receive:

  • Weather Wise lesson plans and interactive activities.
  • A demonstration of hands-on educational tools.
  • Printed and digital materials to help plan their own Weather Wise event.
  • An opportunity to connect with fellow librarians across the region who are committed to severe weather education.

Workshop Details:

Date: Thursday, April 3, 2025

Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Location: Jackson State University, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd Floor H.T. Sampson Library, 1400 John R. Lynch St, Jackson, MS 39217

Registration Link

Event Flier

A young woman in a blue shirt demonstrates first aid techniques on a man's arm using bandages and improvised materials. The man, wearing an orange plaid shirt with suspenders, observes closely, while another woman in a green blouse watches attentively. The setting is a classroom with a projector screen and an American flag in the background.
A Weather Wise workshop participant, left, practices bandaging an impaled arm to help until medical professionals can care for the wounded man while Trainer Qiyamah Williams, of Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant and Mississippi State University, right, observes (Photo by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant)

Even if you cannot attend this workshop, there are still ways to bring Weather Wise programming to your library or organization! Keep an eye out for future training opportunities, or reach out to us for resources, lesson plans and support in implementing severe weather preparedness education in your community.

For more information, contact me, Kristiana Allen at [email protected] or 601-979-2103.

Together, we can help build Weather Wise communities and ensure that Southerners have the knowledge they need to stay safe from the region’s unique severe weather risks.

Meet the author

Kristiana Allen

Risk Communication and Learning Specialist

Kristiana Allen is a risk communication and learning specialist with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium’s Education and Engagement Team. She also is a member of the NOAA National Severe... Read more

Catch the latest blogs!

A new Gulf-wide tripletail and cobia project will soon be underway

This project aims to track the movements and migration patterns of tripletail and cobia across the Gulf by using conventional, acoustic and satellite tags.

Abby McGregor

Read more

Mississippi charter boats for-hire industry has been declining

The Mississippi charter boats for-hire industry job impacts have steadily declined since their peak in 2016.

Benedict C. Posadas, Ph.D.

Read more
Read more blogs