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Highlands County's Citizen’s Preparedness Academy is part of the Board's emergency preparedness outreach program. The academy is a workshop series of five classes designed to help residents understand the hazards that could affect our community and be prepared for any disaster, including storm preparedness, home fire safety, car safety.
The academy is held annually, and is held monthly for five months, typically beginning in January each year, and is taught by Emergency Management and Public Information staff, with guest speakers from partner organizations like the National Weather Service, Florida Forest Service, and the local health department. Class materials are provided to attendees, including safety flyers in a variety of topics, disaster supply buckets, and preparedness items like flashlights, multi-tools, windshield breakers, blankets for their car, sandbags, weather radios, and can openers and hot/cold packs, to name a few.
In 2024, the academy’s first class was a simulated tabletop exercise where County staff “responded to” a tornado impact in Sebring, with class attendees participating in the exercise and asking questions to better understand County response and what steps they can take as individuals to respond to this type of disaster. This proved to be fortuitous, as in October 2024, Highlands County was impacted by seven confirmed tornadoes prior to Hurricane Milton making landfall. The exercise not only helped residents mentally prepare for a potential disaster, but it also helped County staff train for one too.