Zoooombiiiiies!!!!!

We often discover learning opportunities in strange ways, but I have to say our find from yesterday really takes the cake.

Thanks to a worldwide pandemic and a drastic reduction in the number of activities we’ve had available to us, we’ve been doing a lot of walking. Like, a lot. We walked 50km last week alone. While out on one of our long walks, Adam suddenly turned to me and said, “…uuuuhhhhhh?” and pointed across the street. I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I saw was definitely not it. I was greeting with a van that looked something like this:

Yes, you’re seeing correctly – that says Zombie Outbreak Response Team. Maybe you’re in the know and were already aware that this was a thing. I for one, spent a good few minutes puzzling whether this was a serious endeavour, someone trying to mess with people, or something in between. And then, of course, I took to Google for answers.

As it turns out, the Zombie outbreak response team, or ZORT, is essentially a survivalist group. US ZORT’s official statement is as follows: 

ABOUT US

     The U.S. Zombie Outbreak Response Team or   U.S.Z.O.R.T.  is a team made up of 50 UNITS that  operate all over the U.S. and other countries, training, preparing and waiting for the ZoMbIe apocAlypse.

      We are everyday people. we are mothers AND fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles.  we are doctors, sanitation workers, police officers, military service personel, postal workers and school teachers.  we are preppers and survivalists preparing for all worst case scenarios and S.H.T.F. situations. 

       A ZoMbIe could be anything from a person infected by a pandemic outbreak to a crazy nut job, criminal or gangster who wants to hurt your family and steal your food and preps.  The apocAlypse could come in the form a hurricane, earthquake, financial Economic Collapse, EMP, polar cap shift or terrorist attack etc etc!!!      

      By adding the “ZOMBIE” to being a prepper or survivalist not only makes it fun, but also practical.  If you are prepared for the ZoMbIeS you are ready for anything!  So as U.S. Z.O.R.T. we can prep, train and ready ourselves for anything and everything while also helping others like family, friends and other U.S. Z.O.R.T. members in a time of need!!

MISSION STATEMENT

     Our goal as U.S. Z.O.R.T. is to connect our states, cities, communities and their people. to help and train people to survive in any situation. We can offer self and home defense, community watch and natural disaster response as well as wilderness, urban  survival and prepping.  We also sponsor community events such as picnics, dinners, dances, parties, charity events and conduct fund raisers to help other in need – and to survive!!!

You can purchase memberships that come with certificates and business cards, there are stores full of merch, and they seem to even have seminars. Of course, my wheels started turning, thinking of all of the ways that this could be turned into a unit study. Then, based on my google search, I found something shocking. Something amazing. Something freakin’ awesome! Someone else had already done it – THE CDC!!!! 

For real. The Centre for Disease Control has a whole entire section on their website dedicated to Zombie Preparedness. Of course, like ZORT, it’s simply a clever way to get people interested in preparing for disasters. Their website states:

Wonder why zombies, zombie apocalypse, and zombie preparedness continue to live or walk dead on a CDC web site? As it turns out what first began as a tongue-in-cheek campaign to engage new audiences with preparedness messages has proven to be a very effective platform. We continue to reach and engage a wide variety of audiences on all hazards preparedness via “zombie preparedness”.

But, here’s the thing – they’ve made LESSON PLANS. They have taken Zombie Preparedness and created activities for English, History, Science, and Phys. Ed! Some of them require larger groups (hello co-ops!) but could easily be adapted to take place over Zoom. Others are just fine as is for families.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to spend some time getting through the real pandemic by pretending to be stuck in a completely different, even more terrifying pandemic!