Students participate in ‘active shooter’ drill at Pajaro Valley High School
Students at Pajaro Valley High School took part in an active shooter safety drill Tuesday morning. (Stephen Baxter -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)
By Stephen Baxter, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 03/31/15, 4:47 PM PDT |
0 Comments
WATSONVILLE >> Tuesday morning on the Pajaro Valley High School public address system, students milling outside during a break heard a surprise announcement.
“This is a code red drill. There is an intruder in the quad,” the voice said.
Instructions followed to go indoors.
Dozens of the school’s 1,400 students were on the quad and talking to each other outside classrooms. They filed into classrooms, the gym and other rooms as teachers and staff locked doors behind them.
In silence outside, about 10 uniformed police from Watsonville and Santa Cruz patrolled the halls as they would during a real shooting. Five minutes later, a voice announced, “All clear.” Classes resumed.
Watsonville police school resource officer Charles Johnson, who had the idea for the drill about a year ago, said he was impressed with the calm way students reacted. He said the drill was prompted by other school shootings around the nation.
Since 26 people were killed in an attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, there have been at least 111 shootings at schools and universities in the United States, according to the group Everytown For Gun Safety.
“We figured, we’re not prepared for it. Let’s do our best to get prepared for it,” said Johnson.
He said he wanted to do the drill during a break, while students were all over campus.
Teachers and staff knew the drill was coming, but most students did not. Students in a leadership class also were clued in beforehand, Johnson said, and they helped shepherd students into classrooms.
Christian Fernandez, a 16-year-old junior at the school, said, “It was a good way to practice.”
He was a bit skeptical about whether his classmates would act so orderly if a real shooter were on campus.
“People would be freaking out,” he said.
Alison Niizawa, principal of Pajaro Valley High School, said she was pleased with the way teachers and students handled it.
Keeping an eye out for troubled students is also part of the answer to keeping students, staff and faculty safe, she said.
“It’s too bad that we don’t have enough resources to put into identifying people that are in distress or feeling like this is the only answer,” Niizawa said.
“But you can never be too prepared or plan enough for what would you do.”
Students participate in ‘active shooter’ drill at Pajaro Valley High School
I know that in very short order this thread, if it takes off, will be overtaken with the anti/pro gun crowd. When I read this though, the last thing that crosses my mind is thoughts on gun control or arming anybody. So, before it does get over taken, I'm going to say my piece.
I find it absolutely heart breaking that we live in a world were this type of drill may be necessary to save lives. That there continue to be some kids, so many kids, that become so disassociated and marginalized that their pain explodes in the way we've come to see over and over again in the news media.
I know that bullying will never completely disappear, we've always had it. Some people you just can't reach. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. And in trying, really trying, you might actually reach some. It's long past the time we recognize that the problem here is us. We are the problem. And we need to step up, collectively, and do something about it. It's not about laws, it's not about guns, it's about dialogue, real dialogue.
So at this point, if you want to make about guns, for or against, have at it. But try to remember that, in doing so, you are ignoring the real problem and in fact are a part of it.
Students at Pajaro Valley High School took part in an active shooter safety drill Tuesday morning. (Stephen Baxter -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)
By Stephen Baxter, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 03/31/15, 4:47 PM PDT |
0 Comments
WATSONVILLE >> Tuesday morning on the Pajaro Valley High School public address system, students milling outside during a break heard a surprise announcement.
“This is a code red drill. There is an intruder in the quad,” the voice said.
Instructions followed to go indoors.
Dozens of the school’s 1,400 students were on the quad and talking to each other outside classrooms. They filed into classrooms, the gym and other rooms as teachers and staff locked doors behind them.
In silence outside, about 10 uniformed police from Watsonville and Santa Cruz patrolled the halls as they would during a real shooting. Five minutes later, a voice announced, “All clear.” Classes resumed.
Watsonville police school resource officer Charles Johnson, who had the idea for the drill about a year ago, said he was impressed with the calm way students reacted. He said the drill was prompted by other school shootings around the nation.
Since 26 people were killed in an attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, there have been at least 111 shootings at schools and universities in the United States, according to the group Everytown For Gun Safety.
“We figured, we’re not prepared for it. Let’s do our best to get prepared for it,” said Johnson.
He said he wanted to do the drill during a break, while students were all over campus.
Teachers and staff knew the drill was coming, but most students did not. Students in a leadership class also were clued in beforehand, Johnson said, and they helped shepherd students into classrooms.
Christian Fernandez, a 16-year-old junior at the school, said, “It was a good way to practice.”
He was a bit skeptical about whether his classmates would act so orderly if a real shooter were on campus.
“People would be freaking out,” he said.
Alison Niizawa, principal of Pajaro Valley High School, said she was pleased with the way teachers and students handled it.
Keeping an eye out for troubled students is also part of the answer to keeping students, staff and faculty safe, she said.
“It’s too bad that we don’t have enough resources to put into identifying people that are in distress or feeling like this is the only answer,” Niizawa said.
“But you can never be too prepared or plan enough for what would you do.”
Students participate in ‘active shooter’ drill at Pajaro Valley High School
I know that in very short order this thread, if it takes off, will be overtaken with the anti/pro gun crowd. When I read this though, the last thing that crosses my mind is thoughts on gun control or arming anybody. So, before it does get over taken, I'm going to say my piece.
I find it absolutely heart breaking that we live in a world were this type of drill may be necessary to save lives. That there continue to be some kids, so many kids, that become so disassociated and marginalized that their pain explodes in the way we've come to see over and over again in the news media.
She is wrong, it's not part of the answer. It is the answer, the only real answer that will ever prevent, have a hope in hell of preventing, this madness from occurring. Society puts all this lip service into bullying, we have these big media blitzes and laws about Facebook and Twitter, but what we need to be doing is talking to kids. I mean really talk to them, with them. Get into their classrooms, make it a part of the high school experience, a very big presence. Work with them to cultivate and exercise empathy, instead of saying what should happen, how we should behave towards one another and then turning a blind eye to what actually goes on.
I know that bullying will never completely disappear, we've always had it. Some people you just can't reach. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. And in trying, really trying, you might actually reach some. It's long past the time we recognize that the problem here is us. We are the problem. And we need to step up, collectively, and do something about it. It's not about laws, it's not about guns, it's about dialogue, real dialogue.
So at this point, if you want to make about guns, for or against, have at it. But try to remember that, in doing so, you are ignoring the real problem and in fact are a part of it.
