Yellow alert

During first hour, rumors started to circulate among the teaching staff that a shooting may have happened at one of the local schools. This was during our planning, so my team didn't have any students. I checked the local TV station websites for any info, but nothing was being reported. A few minutes later, the principal came on the intercom to announce that we were having a "practice" red alert, which is the code for an intruder in the building. We locked doors, closed blinds, turned off the lights and lined the students up against interior walls where they wouldn't be seen from the doorway. After the drill was over, she came over the PA system and again stressed that the red alert was just a practice; however, we were officially going to a "real" yellow alert, which meant no outside activities, the blinds were to stay closed and we were to be "prepared to go into red alert."

By this time, I had my 2nd hour kids in the room with me. Miss L, one of the aides, and I immediately looked at each other. I went back to my desk and checked the websites again, where I found out what was going on. (The principal later sent out an email.) The story began, "LEE COUNTY: On the anniversary of the Columbine shootings and in light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has increased security at local schools after rumors surfaced something might happen today."

As it turns out, "several" schools in the area had received anonymous calls that there was going to be some type of shooting at one of the schools today. The sheriff's office advised all schools in the district to be on alert, just as a precaution, even though they were relatively sure that there was no "legitimate basis for concern."

By 3rd and 4th hour, the rumors had started to fly among the students. I had several students ask me if there was something going on, if there was somebody on campus, etc. Middle school is a weird age--they were trying to act "cool," but at the same time, they're still kids, too, and you could tell that they were legitimately scared. I figured that in this case, the truth was actually more reassuring than what they were all imagining, so I told them a little bit: "Some schools in Ft. Myers received threats today. Our school wasn't one of them, but it's kind of like when someone pulls the fire alarm--even though we KNOW there's not a real emergency, we still have to evacuate and the fire department still has to come out. So now, although we're pretty sure that the threats were just a sick joke, we're still following certain precautions to keep you guys safe." That seemed to make them feel better.

Still, it was a pretty nerve-racking day. We were all a bit more jumpy than usual. The district cancelled all after-school activities, just in case. I'm glad to say that school is now over and, thank God, there were no incidents of any kind. It was pretty freaky, though--and it's extra hard when you have to be the calm and reassuring presence to the kids, but on the inside YOU kind of need some reassurance, too.