Some of the most vivid and shocking news stories over the years have stemmed from school-related crises and incidents in California. Recall the 1976 Chowchilla school bus-kidnapping and the 1989 Stockton elementary playground shootings. These are extreme examples of the type of emergencies that teachers and administrators may face, yet few schools prepare for the contingency of even more likely occurrences such as suicides and natural disasters, says a UC Davis education professor and co-author of a new book on school crisis preparation. "School systems should develop plans and procedures to help children resolve crises. Crisis intervention is not only in line with the purposes of schooling, but is essential to continued learning," says Jonathan Sandoval in "Preparing for Crises in the Schools." Schools tend to be more reactive than proactive in responding to crises, according to Sandoval, and this stance "magnifies the likelihood that a crisis will have adverse outcomes for students and staff." To help teachers and school personnel prepare for and cope with crises, the authors suggest concrete and practical steps to initiate and implement school crisis response plans.