Too close for comfort

Whew! Today, I have to tell you friends, was quite a day! Right after calendar this morning, I had just started my oral vocab lesson and read aloud when an eerie announcement hit the PA system: "Teachers: please check your email." Um, okay, normally we only get these when sayyyy a blizzard hits and we're dismissing early or something.is.seriously.wrong. You know, nearby housefires, etc.  The email is short, succinct, calm,  and collected but it says that a nearby adjoined elementary and middle school in our district have been locked down. Can't tell you how quickly I locked down my own room and returned to my read aloud. This was soooo me at 9:15am: "Back to the story! By the way, no bathroom, no nurse, we're in until I say we can go out. No exceptions, please.don't.ask." LARGE TOOTHY SMILE, because that's easier than saying "Everything's okay, but I wish I knew what was going on!"

The next hour was filled with the sound of my email blinging and cell phone ringing, thanks to our alert now system. I'm happy to report (although every major Philadelphia new channel has done this for me already now), that everyone is just fine. Turns out, there was a stabbing incident in one of our middle schools (2 students involved). The victim is okay and recovering in a local hospital. Both the middle and adjoining elementary schools locked down as a safety measure and dismissed early. I cannot commend my administration, colleagues, and local authorities enough for handling the situation with such a professional, calm, swift manner. It's definitely good to know that the people around me know what they're doing. :)

The scariest part of my day was the few moments of not knowing the reason for the lockdown. But, I was never really scared in the moment. I guess that whole act first, stew/think later describes me accurately today. I'm most proud that I was able to continue on in a normal manner and manage to stay away from the massive amount of hallway gossiping and literally whispering down the lane that typically would unnerve me. 

I seriously hope and pray that this is as close as I will ever get to any situation of this sort and I'm sure millions of other teachers feel the same way. I'm now going to one of my fav places BARNES & NOBLES (even though I'm a kindle user ha)! I've totally earned a new book after getting through today. 

Thanks for listening, or reading really!