Lockdown

Even lockdown drills can be scary. But the real deal is downright creepy. In the seven years I've been at Southridge, we've only had two real lockdowns. The first was about three years ago. There was a student who was flashing a gun at the bus stop. He did not get on the bus, but the other kids there told the bus driver who notified the school. They put us on lockdown for almost 45 minutes until the police were able to locate the kid at his home, and they found the gun. Scary, but sort of surreal because it was not in the actual building.

Today, however, there was a kid with a weapon at school.

A little background about today: We are housing the fourth high school in Kennewick, Phoenix High School, at SHS this year. They are very small - they started the year with only 40 kids, and are now down to the low 30's. They are supposed to be at SHS for this year and maybe next, then the district will be finding them a permanent location. For the most part we haven't even really noticed them in the building at all. Their kids take different breaks, and eat lunch at a different time. They even start later than we do. Facility wise, it hasn't been much of a problem.

Kid wise, however, has been a bit of a different story. Phoenix kids, for the most part, have been very respectful of SHS rules, students and faculty. There have been a handful, however, who have had run-ins with different SHS staff and students. Today is a good example.

One of the Phoenix kids brought a bayonet-style knife to school in his bag. He showed it to some of his friends, including some SHS kids. He didn't threaten anybody - that was never his intent. He thought it was a cool knife and thought he would show it to his friends. One kid texted another, and it didn't take long before an SHS student went to the administration and let them know what was going on. The administration immediately put us in lockdown, and called the authorities.

At first, we thought it was a drill. About once a month, we are supposed to be having fire and other emergency drills. Last Friday during 6th hour we had a fire drill. I just assumed this was another drill. But the normal 7-10 minutes passed, and there was no announcement releasing us. After about 20 minutes had passed we realized it was the real deal.

After 35 minutes they released us from the lockdown. I was so proud of my kids. They handled themselves very well. I have seniors second hour, so that helped, I'm sure. However, even after the lockdown was over, they still were a little creeped out. I went to unlock the door, and they wanted me to leave it shut and locked until the end of the hour. I complied, because that was an easy request.

Apparently, once the authorities were called and we were put into lockdown, things got pretty dramatic up at Phoenix HS. Nobody was ever in danger, apparently, but within 6 minutes of being called, there were 7 police officers decked out in tactical gear who rushed to the school, apprehended the student with guns drawn and retrieved the knife.

All is well, and the adrenaline rush only lasted for a little bit. But it makes you think about what could have happened. I'm very lucky to be in the school I am in. This is only the second major incident in seven and a half years. SHS kids are like family. They look out for each other, and take care of each other. And our security and administration are pretty darn good, too. They respond quickly, rationally, and efficiently.

Plus, my senior boys are pretty darn cute. I had one girl freak out a bit when security or the police came by and tried to open the door. (They check to make sure doors are locked so kids are safe.) She said, "What if the door wasn't locked??" I assured her that I had locked the door myself while they were moving to the back of the room, because their safety is my first and foremost concern at times like those. She said, "But what if it didn't work?? What if your key broke in the door?" At that point Josh and Stephen piped up, "We're here...you don't have to worry about anything! We'd move a bookcase in front of the door if the key didn't work. And if that didn't work, we'd hold the door shut ourselves!"

I love my kids.