Today the school day had scarcely started when an unusual announcement came over the PA system. "Attention teachers and students. The school is now on lockdown. Teachers make sure that all doors into their classrooms are locked. Everyone get down on the floor, under tables and desks, and away from doors and windows."
We assumed it was a drill. But after 20 minutes or so the lockdown had lasted longer than a drill would have lasted. Something else was going on.
We stayed under tables and desks for about a half hour. Then the classroom door was unlocked from outside and twenty more students, about half a dozen parents, and several teachers were ushered into the room and the door was locked again. We were on lockdown for almost an hour until the announcement that the emergency had ended and we could all resume our normal activities.
What had happened was that two cars had been speeding on the major avenue right next to the school, with men in one car shooting at the other, and had crashed into three cars on school property. The police had arrived very quickly, and who the shooters were was never told to us. But several of my students had been right out there on the street when all this had happened.
One of the students, a very small kid, later began crying. He had been right out in the thick of the event, and one of the shooters had been very close to him and had looked him straight in the face. He had other issues in his background, too, that made him more frightened -- losing two family members recently. Like almost all the students in the school he is Mexican. The other student, an African-American sixth-grader seemed to take it all in stride, as though he had already seen such things often.
Many of the classes for the rest of the day had "circles" in which the students arrange chairs in a big circle and one by one express their feelings about what they had experienced and how they felt about what had happened.
By coincidence, we had had a potluck meal to teachers and staff scheduled to be held right after the end of the school day. The entire school staff -- about 30 persons -- gathered, enjoyed a great meal, and then held a circle of their own.
Some of the teachers had actually seen the incident, and described what they had seen. A lady who lives right next to the school had come out of her house, snatched up several students who were arriving at school, and rushed them to safety in her own home. The owner of a small store down the street had grabbed some students and pulled them to safety into his little store, then locked the door. Later, he walked them to school to make sure they felt safe. Another neighbor grabbed a kid or two and had them lie down on the ground behind some bushes.
Of the staff, two of the persons who were most traumatized by the incident were the school secretary and also one of the senior administrators, a lady whose car was hit head on and demolished by the shooters' car. This school is in a dangerous part of the city, and the kids have seen and experienced a lot. The school secretary, for instance, described something that had happened to her and her sister was New Year's eve. They always went out on New Year's eve. They didn't want to stay at home because, as she said, "there are too many bullets."
One time her sister was crossing the street had a bullet had hit her in the arm.
Looking back on all this, I have to say that I was never at all afraid. Probably this is for two reasons. 1) I am too old and stupid to be afraid; and 2) In traveling all through remote areas, I have never been fearful, though other people have asked me about certain experiences and wondered if I ever had been.
I was proud of the efficiency with which the school staff reacted to all this. The lockdown was immediate and very smoothly accomplished. Nobody got in a panic. In the discussion teachers had at the potluck, when it was my turn to speak, what I mentioned was that we as teachers have two main function, and the students probably only think we have one. They see us as teachers only. They do not realize that an even more important concern that we all share is that of keeping the students safe. Never mind the kid who constantly acts up in class and cannot seem to stay in his assigned seat, or the young lady who behaves like a princess, or the kid who just refuses to do any work -- they all have to be kept safe. That is our most important job.
I have the good fortunate to be paired off in the first period with an extraordinary teacher -- more about him at another time -- and we both discussed what we were thinking. He has a golf club and he was thinking that it would be a handy weapon should anyone break into the classroom. I was thinking of a large pair of scissors that would make a useful weapon and also of breaking a chair over an intruder's head.
You never know what the day will bring. The tamales at the teachers' potluck were awfully good.
We assumed it was a drill. But after 20 minutes or so the lockdown had lasted longer than a drill would have lasted. Something else was going on.
We stayed under tables and desks for about a half hour. Then the classroom door was unlocked from outside and twenty more students, about half a dozen parents, and several teachers were ushered into the room and the door was locked again. We were on lockdown for almost an hour until the announcement that the emergency had ended and we could all resume our normal activities.
What had happened was that two cars had been speeding on the major avenue right next to the school, with men in one car shooting at the other, and had crashed into three cars on school property. The police had arrived very quickly, and who the shooters were was never told to us. But several of my students had been right out there on the street when all this had happened.
One of the students, a very small kid, later began crying. He had been right out in the thick of the event, and one of the shooters had been very close to him and had looked him straight in the face. He had other issues in his background, too, that made him more frightened -- losing two family members recently. Like almost all the students in the school he is Mexican. The other student, an African-American sixth-grader seemed to take it all in stride, as though he had already seen such things often.
Many of the classes for the rest of the day had "circles" in which the students arrange chairs in a big circle and one by one express their feelings about what they had experienced and how they felt about what had happened.
By coincidence, we had had a potluck meal to teachers and staff scheduled to be held right after the end of the school day. The entire school staff -- about 30 persons -- gathered, enjoyed a great meal, and then held a circle of their own.
Some of the teachers had actually seen the incident, and described what they had seen. A lady who lives right next to the school had come out of her house, snatched up several students who were arriving at school, and rushed them to safety in her own home. The owner of a small store down the street had grabbed some students and pulled them to safety into his little store, then locked the door. Later, he walked them to school to make sure they felt safe. Another neighbor grabbed a kid or two and had them lie down on the ground behind some bushes.
Of the staff, two of the persons who were most traumatized by the incident were the school secretary and also one of the senior administrators, a lady whose car was hit head on and demolished by the shooters' car. This school is in a dangerous part of the city, and the kids have seen and experienced a lot. The school secretary, for instance, described something that had happened to her and her sister was New Year's eve. They always went out on New Year's eve. They didn't want to stay at home because, as she said, "there are too many bullets."
One time her sister was crossing the street had a bullet had hit her in the arm.
Looking back on all this, I have to say that I was never at all afraid. Probably this is for two reasons. 1) I am too old and stupid to be afraid; and 2) In traveling all through remote areas, I have never been fearful, though other people have asked me about certain experiences and wondered if I ever had been.
I was proud of the efficiency with which the school staff reacted to all this. The lockdown was immediate and very smoothly accomplished. Nobody got in a panic. In the discussion teachers had at the potluck, when it was my turn to speak, what I mentioned was that we as teachers have two main function, and the students probably only think we have one. They see us as teachers only. They do not realize that an even more important concern that we all share is that of keeping the students safe. Never mind the kid who constantly acts up in class and cannot seem to stay in his assigned seat, or the young lady who behaves like a princess, or the kid who just refuses to do any work -- they all have to be kept safe. That is our most important job.
I have the good fortunate to be paired off in the first period with an extraordinary teacher -- more about him at another time -- and we both discussed what we were thinking. He has a golf club and he was thinking that it would be a handy weapon should anyone break into the classroom. I was thinking of a large pair of scissors that would make a useful weapon and also of breaking a chair over an intruder's head.
You never know what the day will bring. The tamales at the teachers' potluck were awfully good.
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