Thoughts on school emergencies....

Someone was screaming out in the hallway. I glanced over the computer towards the shut door. “Really?” I asked out loud. Several students had stopped reading their tests and were staring towards the door.


“I know Mrs. Flower! How am I supposed to-“

“Reed. Eyes on your paper. Thank you.”

I walked over to the door and opened it, preparing to storm down the hall and give one of Mrs. Humble’s students a piece of my mind about yelling in the hallway while classes were going on. I flung the door open and stepped into the hall. The hallway was empty. The double doors down the hall were shut.

Mrs. Linea peered around her door. She raised one eyebrow looking down the hall.

“You heard that right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Mrs. Humble flung her door open and paused with finger crooked and mouth open ready to deal out a strike or detention and froze mid-step.

“Really?” she said. “Why would you yell?” She turned my way. “Aren’t you giving a test?”

I sighed. “We didn’t yell. I guess something is going on over on the other side of the doors. Maybe someone has a guest speaker.”

The lights went out.

Screams came high pitched and feigned from all three classrooms.

“Well shit.” Humble disappeared behind her door and started barking “hush” orders. I turned around to address my own room.

“Guys, really? Calm down, the power will come back on in just-“

The ground started shaking.

The screams started for real. I watched as the SMARTboard projector began to shake. “Under the desks! Get under desks and tables right now!” Crashes echoed as the projector hit the ground and shattered, cabinets opening and computer screens plummeting. The shutters jiggled flashing miner amounts of light from outside. I braced myself in the doorway. A cracking noise moved my eyes upward. I watched as the front of the room was traced by a black crack running up the wall. I looked around the room, scared eyes under the desks staring up at the ceilings. Bright lights seemed to flash from outside as the shades wobbled in the shaking.

Finally, the rumbling stopped. I looked around the room. My eyes found the emergency bag on the wall. I stepped one foot over and grabbed it. Earthquake. What page was earthquake on? I flipped quickly through looking for Earthquake. Jesus, this was Oklahoma! Why the hell would they even – oh there it is, Earthquake…under desks..wait until stops…assess room. I looked around. There was glass on the floor, the cubbies had cracked and the front wall looked like a fault line. Room bad. I glanced back at my paper. I could hear crying. “STAY UNDER THE DESKS!” I yelled and scanned the form. OK, if the room is not going to survive and after shock, move outside. I glanced out the door. “Linea, Humble, our room is not safe. I’m going to take them out.”

I turned back. The students were crying, screaming, completely freaking out. My own heart was racing. I needed to get their attention. “Students!” A few eyes my way but most were still panicing as their eyes darted about the room.

I needed something familiar. “B-A-L-B-O-A!” I yelled.

“Saw the Pacific Ocean!” Several students yelled.

“Listen up! I know you are scared. That is ok. But I need you to listen to me. I’m going to take care of you. We are going to line up in number order, and we are going to leave the building. The room is damaged and so we are going where you won’t get hurt. I need everyone to remain calm, and follow me out. Stay quiet so you can hear me. Stay close to me and don’t lose sight of the person in front of you.” I met their eyes. “Ok. Let’s go!”

I had never seen the students line up so quickly. Within seconds we were ready. Emergency bag in hand, I turned to lead them out. Humble and Linea were in the hall, bags on their shoulders and getting ready to exit. We turned to look out the glass doors that were our emergency exit. And that’s when we noticed that all of the trees outside our school had been burnt to a crisp.