(09/10/25) BATON ROUGE, La. — Twenty years later, so many are still examining the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana communities, particularly on young children who experience these disasters. As the state reflects on the 20-year anniversary of the storm, educating the youth of today is crucial to building a more resilient Louisiana.

“Visions for a Resilient Louisiana," a program from the LaHouse Research and Education Center, was the vision of Principal Investigator Dr. Meggan Franks and her project team—Co-PIs Claire Scott and Shelly Kleinpeter—and challenged youth participants to envision community resilience through art.

Funded by the East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Community Development, this initiative aimed to teach attendees about natural disasters, ways to improve their home’s resilience and how they can use this knowledge to help their families and communities.

The program explored Louisiana’s relationship with natural disasters and how expensive they can be for the state. Extension associate Claire Scott spoke on wind hazards and construction methods used to prepare communities for storms with high-speed winds.

Youth also participated in hands-on challenges where they built structures and tested their resilience to wind and flood and took a tour of LaHouse to learn more about emergency preparedness.

Evaluation data from the event indicated that 32 youth planned to make an emergency kit, 89% learned more about protecting communities from flood and 97% learned more about protecting a home from wind.

The art workshop was a collaborative time for the participants to transfer what they learned into an art piece relating to resilience. Many of the works showed strategies to protect homes from wind and flood damage while others focused on nature-based solutions. In their piece descriptions, youth echoed resilience principles like flood walls, elevation and stronger wall construction and how these tactics can improve their communities.

Elizabeth, an 11th grader from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, said her piece “Double Edged Sword” examines “Louisiana’s culture, hardships and beauty, all in one,” she told the group during the ending reflection. “To lose one is to lose Louisiana.”

The camp culminated with participants attending an LSU event marking Katrina’s 20th anniversary, where their artwork was displayed alongside reflections on the lessons of the storm.

Surrounded by community leaders, policymakers and researchers, the youth added their voices to an ongoing conversation about resilience and recovery. At the event, each participant was recognized on stage and presented with a certificate to commend their commitment to learning about disaster preparedness, resilience and community.

This work was funded by the East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Community Development. Special thanks to Candace Derbes from the East Baton Rouge Parish 4-H office for her generous donation of supplies and her time.

Area youth recently participated in “Visions for a Resilient Louisiana,” a program from the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Research and Education Center and funded by the East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Community Development. Photo by Shelly Kleinpeter/LSU AgCenter

Maya Guttierez paints her vision of a resilient Louisiana during a program to teach area youth to envision community resilience through art. Photo by Shelly Kleinpeter/LSU AgCenter