Code Red

At Scott, the kids had a Code Red drill. This is a newer drill that began a few years after the Columbine incidents and other ones like that. Instead of a fire drill or tornado drill where there are specific instructions to evacuate or stay in the classroom respectively, the Code Red can consist of having a lockdown to running to the nearest room/exit. I think it's hard to practice this drill because of the different directions associated with the situations that can arise in schools. These situations include, but are not confined to, flooding, sick individuals where the paramedics need to come in, shootings, and bomb threats. I have read many statistics that bomb threats and actual shootings in schools have gone down despite the rising fear the media has helped to fuel. And although inner city schools have had many incidences of shootings in the past, only when an upper middle-class suburban school is a target of media-frenzy do schools around the country have a plan of action. Riiight. I guess it's better late than never.
We also had an assembly as well as a substitute teacher in class, so with the Code Red and this other stuff, the kids were WILD. This was probably their favorite school day of the year! The assembly was not bad; it was a veteran's day tribute where the orchestra and choir played patriotic songs. I thought we had some really talented students singing and playing! I kept thinking about when I was in the middle school orchestra and choir, ahh memories. The other kids watching looked bored, but it's funny how now that I am a teacher, I am awed by the talent I see around me!
In a little while, I am going to start packing and Matt and I are heading to Oklahoma around 3. Hopefully we get there by 10pm...it's a long drive!