 State officials are urging every Californian to be educated and prepared if disaster strikes. Local school children were on hand today at Mather, learning how to shovel sandbags, escape a burning building, and rescue trapped victims. Hundreds of Sacramento school children are getting a first-hand look at how to prepare for a natural disaster. It's all part of the Governor's Day of Preparedness Declaration with a special preparedness fair featuring First Lady Maria Shriver. California's First Lady wants to make sure that people are ready, even the little ones. Maria Shriver is hosting the first Day of Preparedness event here at the Capitol today. Are Californians prepared for a natural disaster or even something more likely such as a house fire? Today, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services hosted its first Day of Preparedness Education Fair. California's First Lady is urging all of us to be prepared for a terrorist attack or that dreaded earthquake, and she put herself to the test today. The Governor declared today California's Day of Preparedness. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaims today Day of Preparedness, and his wife, Maria Shriver, talked about the importance of being ready for a disaster. Does your family know what to do if a natural disaster were to hit Northern California? I'm sure we probably won't see a hurricane, but we have experienced earthquakes and floods, so the Governor's Office of Emergency Services put on its first-ever Day of Preparedness Education Fair today. Jonathan Mum tells us California First Lady Maria Shriver was even on hand to help spread the word. What do we do during an earthquake, though? The Education Fair treated schoolchildren and adults alike to demonstrations on everything from escaping a burning house, to filling a sandbag, to saving victims trapped under heavy objects. The emphasis was on knowing what to do yourself. We have to be empowered. We have to be prepared ourselves. It makes all the difference, especially in the first few days. Such knowledge will not only help you and your family, First Lady Maria Shriver told the crowd, but also first responders who can then focus their efforts on those with special needs. I can't stress enough how a properly packed bag, just a small amount of provisions of water, food, medication, those types of things that you can do today, this afternoon, not next week, not next year, but now that you can prepare yourself and your family. Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Backpacks were handed out to the school kids who also learned to create their own. First, we need a flashlight, and then we need batteries for the flashlight, of course. Alarmed by what they'd seen on TV about Hurricane Katrina, it was just scary because all those people were like, it felt like they were going to get hurt. This is all possible because, again, California is a disaster-prone state. Earthquake fires floods. We've got to prepare for all those things. One way to get that message out to everyone is through our children, through the schools, and a lot of the reason these kids are here today is to help us spread that message. The students were pleased with an opportunity to prepare ahead of time. As soon as I get home, I'm going to convince my parents to go shopping to get stuff just in case a disaster comes. Jonathan Mum, News 10. The Office of Emergency Services has 10 ways to prepare for a disaster. Among them, identify hazards that you might be faced with, like do you live in a flood plain or a high-fire danger area? Create a family disaster plan and one that includes a meeting place just in case you have to evacuate in a hurry. Build a disaster supply kit. Make sure that children know what to do if disaster strikes and eliminate hazards in your home and workplace. For more information, you can log on to our website, news10.net, and click on the web links button in the upper left-hand corner for a direct link to the OES website for more information.