Lockdowns....

A common practice in schools across America these days is the lockdown drill. With all the incidents of mass violence and school shootings that we have seen over the past nine years or so (pretty much since Columbine), it is something that must be practiced.

So we have practiced.
There have actually been a couple of incidents in the past couple of years in which the schools I worked at had to go into lockdown- for real. Below are a couple of entires from my personal blog that recount specific lockdown encounters.

May 6, 2005

My drive to work this morning started out like normal, but as I got closer and closer to work, I knew something out of the ordinary was going on... you see, every corner on the main street that I drive down had a police officer parked with its lights on. So what could this be all about???

Was the President of The United States visiting today and I somehow didn't know about it? What else could cause police from all neighboring cities as well as the St Paul Police to be out full-force on a Friday morning at 7 am??

As soon as I got to the school I was informed that we were on lock-down because a St Paul police officer was killed a few blocks away from the school at like 2am. Apparently he was working undercover when he was shot 10-12 times and the suspects fled. So now they are doing a thorough search of the neighborhood in which I teach.

So how am I going to get through this already-hectic Friday, with kids that are scared to walk down their own streets??? This neighborhood that I work in is one that I am glad I do not also reside. Too much crap like this happening all the time. I am fortunate that I will only have to work another 30 days or so before school is out and I move to a new school. Scary!!

PS I have to keep looking through my old archives to find the other lockdown stories....