Eastside Elementary and PCSAR launch Youth Readiness Series
Eight visits will link fifth-grade standards with navigation, survival, engineering and emergency response
CODY, Wyo. - Eastside Elementary School fifth graders will spend the 2026-27 school year learning alongside Park County Search and Rescue through the Eastside & PCSAR Youth Readiness Series, an eight-visit partnership designed to connect classroom standards with practical readiness, service and local careers.
The series is scheduled to begin Sept. 18 and continue through May. Rather than offering eight separate demonstrations, each visit will build knowledge and skills that students will apply during a realistic, age-appropriate mock search and rescue mission at the end of the school year.
"Learning becomes relevant to students when it asks something real of them," said Eastside Elementary Principal Joseff Smith. "This series gives our fifth graders repeated opportunities to use Wyoming Learning Standards based knowledge to make decisions, solve problems, communicate clearly and contribute to a team. By May, they will have a stronger understanding of search and rescue and of their own capacity to respond thoughtfully under pressure."
During the opening visit, students will explore what happens after a call reports a missing person. Using a safe, fictional lost-hiker scenario, they will learn what information rescuers need, how an incident is organized and how people with different roles work together.
In October, students will practice observation and evidence-based reasoning through a lost-person search challenge. In November, they will use maps, compasses, coordinates and GPS concepts to identify a mock rescue location. Winter sessions will move into rescue engineering, including ropes, pulleys, forces and the safe movement of loads, followed by wilderness survival science focused on staying found, shelter, water, weather, clothing and signaling.
Spring visits will introduce rescue medicine and the ways responders communicate with, assess and safely move a patient. Students will also study the problem-solving purpose behind radios, personal protective equipment, GPS units, rescue litters, ropes and specialized vehicles.
The content reinforces fifth-grade learning in science, mathematics, geography, health and engineering. Search strategies call on students to notice patterns, interpret data and support decisions with evidence. Navigation applies measurement, coordinates and spatial reasoning. Rope systems make forces and gravity visible, while survival and medical scenarios ask students to observe conditions, weigh constraints and design safe responses.
The final mission, planned for May at a local park, will ask student teams to receive a briefing, use maps or GPS, follow clues, communicate by radio, locate a mock patient and make safety decisions with coaching from PCSAR volunteers. A debrief will help students explain their reasoning and reflect on how their team worked together.
"Park County Search and Rescue volunteers bring a level of expertise and credibility that no textbook can duplicate," Smith said. "Students will see the planning, discipline and teamwork behind each response, as well as the responsibility that comes with helping others."
The partnership builds on Eastside Elementary's previous work with PCSAR. Its definition of readiness extends beyond outdoor skills to include calm decision-making, clear communication, resourcefulness, teamwork and resilience - habits that can serve students in school and throughout life.
Visit dates, locations and activities remain tentative and may change because of weather, instructional needs or PCSAR response responsibilities.