I honestly wish I did not have to write this blog post, but the recent heartbreaking tragedy at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia has stirred up a lot of emotions and reflections.
I am convinced that we cannot stop creating spaces that affirm our students and make it undeniable that they belong in our classrooms and schools.
Though this high school is about four hours away from my hometown, I am not done processing my feelings. In watching the news and TikTok videos from students sharing their stories, I have cried many times for the victims, the teachers, the students, and the community. So, I cannot imagine what the entire school must be going through at the moment. No one in the schools should have to experience such thing…NO ONE.
If you would like to read more about the victims who died, visit this post by NPR.
If you would like to donate to families of the school community affected in this time of crisis, these are their verified GoFund Me accounts:
What Made My Reaction To the News Different
Unfortunately, we live in a country that not only tries to desensitize us in many ways, but were these happenings are sadly expected. Even so, we never truly believe it could happen to us.
The day the school shooting at Apalachee High School occurred, I received a county wide message about in the middle of the school day. However, it was not until the evening that I took time to watch the news about it.
Don’t get me wrong, my heart shatters every time I hear about another school that goes through this. However, this particular one prompted me to think and act like no other possibly because it happened in my state, I was exhausted that day, and because some of the videos I saw helped think about certain things I must change to prioritize safety in the event something like this were to occur.
Any time something like this happens in the country, I make it a point to review our plan with my son, who is also a high school student at the school where I work.
In Full Transparency
I want to be clear that it is not my intention to use someone else’s trauma to promote or sell anything. That’s why I’ve made it a point not to include any affiliate links or email collection links in this post.
My only reason for writing this is that I realized I hadn’t given thought to some of these proactive actions before, and if that is you too, I hope this helps you feel more prepared.
As I mentioned earlier, I watched the news that evening to stay informed and continue to do so. The videos I have seen have prompted me to make some decisions and changes in the environment where I have control: my classroom.
I will be sharing some of these videos with you, and they may be difficult to watch, but as educators, it is necessary to do so because they can spark ideas for preventive measures.
Additionally, maybe some of these ideas and actions won’t work for your classroom for a variety of reasons and because every school is so different.
One more thing I want to share with you before I share the actions I will be taking is that I can vividly recall last year when I attended our faculty’s active shooter training, and one of the officers stated, “It is not a matter of IF IT HAPPENS but WHEN it happens.” I felt angry. Today, I understand why those words were used. They were not used to instill fear but rather an urgency for preparedness. WE MUST ADDRESS THE UNCOMFORTABLE and more so if it is a matter of safety.
Lessons from the Teachers and Students at Apalachee High School
I pulled the following video from a YouTube interview, and TikTok stories the students have shared.
The video I am sharing tells the experience and brave action taken by Bri, a student. In the video, she explains how she trusted her habit and intuition not to open the door when the shooter tried to get back into the classroom because she had seen through the window he had a gun. Thanks to her action, he did not go into that class.
PROACTIVE ACTION: The next day, I talked to my students and shared Bri’s experience with them. I asked them never to open the door without first looking through the window to see who it is and determining if everything looks safe. Little things can make a huge difference.
PROACTIVE ACTION: I also reminded my students that if we were ever in the middle of something like that, no one could ever open the door, even if they said they were the police.
PROACTIVE ACTION: Because I feel very comfortable at my school, I tend to leave my door unlocked. I will no longer be doing that. My doors will remain locked at all times from now on. My students will help me make sure of this. It will become part of our morning routine.
REFLECTION: In this same video, at about time stamp 00:55, Bri’s sister, Malasia recalls the traumatic experience and at about time stamp 2:42, she is asked by the reporter, “Do you think you’ll be able to come back to school?” and her reply gave me so much to think about.
SOMETHING I DID IN 2023: My dear friend Maribel Gomez showed me these blackout safety curtains (not an affiliate link) she found on Amazon that fit our classroom door’s window. My classroom has two doors, so I ordered one for each. It was a worthwhile investment.
However, if you don’t like to purchase from Amazon, you can have a seamstress make these for you or you can make some with black butcher paper.
PROACTIVE ACTION: I am going to a seamstress to have some made that will cover my entire door and my larger windows in a matter of seconds.
Don't Wait for the Active Shooter Drill to Talk to Students About Your Plan
As in most states, every public school must complete an active shooter. In Georgia, the drill must be done by October 1st of each year, and everyone in the school must participate.
The incident at Apalachee High School occurred pretty early in the school year.
PROACTIVE ACTION: As an educator, I refuse to wait until we have an active shooter drill to discuss our class plan with my students.
PROACTIVE ACTION: I plan to revisit and discuss the plan throughout the school year. I don’t want to instill fear in our babies, so I must take the time to think about how I will be bringing it up and what I will say, but preparedness is critical.
You might be wondering, well, what if a parent gets upset? I am okay explaining my reasoning if required to do so. As the parent of a high schooler, I want to know that my son’s teachers have a classroom preparedness plan in place.
ASSESS YOUR CLASSROOM SPACE
As we plan classroom layouts, group work, or sitting arrangements, we must now also consider possible furniture that can be quickly used to barricade in an emergency. In fact, this is included as one of the 7 Tips for Classroom Preparation to Guard Against a School Shooter by ALICE.
Jennifer Carter, a Spanish teacher at Apalachee High School, shared how the way she had arranged her classroom furniture impacted her response during the terrifying attack that no teacher should ever go through.
PROACTIVE ACTION: This week, I took the time to reassess my current layout and plan to make changes accordingly. These are some changes I will be doing:
- I am clearing my office and will be extra mindful to keep that area extremely clear so that the window there can also be used as an exit space if needed.
- I plan to rearrange a few shelves and carts to make it easier to set up barricades if needed.
- I purchased some items online that can be used in the event we need to defend ourselves. You may be wondering “what did you order?” Things that will not get me fired like an upgraded set of scissors and a fire extinguisher.
OTHER THINGS I DO & REMIND MYSELF
My last blog post was about validating our feelings and emotions as we entered the school year. In it, I shared with you the steps I would take to maintain myself healthy and energized. I don’t get it right every week, but I am not giving up, and this unfortunate event reminded me that our students need us well rested, so we must prioritize our rest.
Equally important for me is to start my day at school with prayer. I have a YouTube playlist of prayers, Psalms, and Bible verses and a Spotify playlist of songs I listen to, especially when I need additional strength to make it through the day. At the beginning and throughout the year, I pray for my classroom, every desk, door, and window there. Occasionally, during my duty walks, I pray for my entire school. For me, prayers carry power. Much of my life has been sustained through prayer. I am not saying that you have to, but these are some things I do that help me not walk in fear. Because I want to walk in confidence that I will remain calm and that I will have the physical and mental strength to support my students when they need me the most. Again, I hope this never happens to me or any of you.
This post might have sounded like me simply accepting or being fearful that this will happen in my school. Nope, it is not that at all. It is a fact that if it ever happens, I will be more than likely to stay calm and support my students because I have a clear plan of what I need to do, accepting that not everything may unfold according to plan. Still, planning is essential.
Yes, there are other solutions, and we all want to put an end to school shootings immediately. However, political solutions can take months, years, or worse—may never happen at all.
Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, I spent more than half of my life waiting for political decisions that would determine my future and the future of my family members (hardly any laws changed), only to watch those decisions become tools for politicians to win votes during elections. We are still witnessing this today with immigration, gun reform, and the economy, among many other vital issues. Along the way, I realized I couldn’t let those choices define my life. Instead, I learned that I gained more by focusing on what I could control.
And that is what I do now in every area of my life: I try to focus on what I can control. It is why I wrote this blog post to focus on what we, as educators, can control right now. It’s meant to offer practical steps that can be implemented today and, if necessary (hopefully, we never will have to) tomorrow.
Also, social-emotional learning in our classroom matters to help our learners gain specific skills through life’s difficult times, but that will be a blog post for another day.