by Kylie Dillon
As time progresses and the world changes, humanity faces new challenges while being forced to adjust.
New Prairie is doing just that, with updates to the current lockdowns drills underway. Justin Holmquest, the high school’s Vice Principal, attended a training event to receive knowledge in improving the drills.
“I had 4 or 5 teachers go in Ms. Litza’s room and I gave them 60 seconds,” Holmquest shared. “They had to keep the doors locked and I told them to figure out a way to block the doors so I couldn't get in.”
The point of Holmquest’s training was to go beyond the idea of being “sitting ducks” and awaiting the appearance of the shooter. Instead, the exercises were to create time and get teachers and students thinking about real life situations.
Holmquest stated, “It was just an exercise in getting teachers to start thinking about if we did have an active shooter. What would you do? That's really what it's all about; creating time. We try to be as prepared as possible. The goal is to create more time and give potential shooters as little access to anybody as possible. It's scary to think about, but unfortunately we have to think that way.”
In addition to getting the staff and students to think more about the worst scenarios, Holmquest has begun to do so as well. Following up on concerns from the community, he has devised an intricate plan for students who are eating lunch during a lockdown drill.
“I divided the cafeteria into three sections. The back section would filter into Teykl’s room and the auditorium stage. The middle would filter into the auditorium up the stage and into the dressing rooms. The front area would filter into Glassley’s room and the bathrooms because they can be locked from the inside. The people who sit at the standing tables can filter into Litza’s room. That's 250-300 kids, so we need to think about where they would all go if someone were to be doing stupid stuff in the building,” Holmquest said.
While this training focuses on protecting students and staff at all costs, there also comes a time when we have to take responsibility for ourselves. The idea of giving more power to the people of the building was something Holmquest paid attention to as well.
“We want teachers to have more power rather than being passive,” Holmquest said. We are starting to get to the point where we need to empower the students too. If the shooter did get through that door, I want the students to start picking up things nearby and chuck them. We need to fight back.”
Not only does the leadership in the coporation feel that empowering the students is vital, but the students themselves do as well. Senior Matt Mosley shared his opinions on the updated drills.
Mosley stated, “I feel powerless. We are kind of like sitting ducks and I do believe we should be able to fight back. While we are sitting there doing nothing, I feel like I could die. Anybody could just break that door and walk right in with a bunch of kids just sitting in a classroom. With these new procedures, I feel like everybody will feel a lot more safe and we will be better prepared.”
Being better prepared is something that more schools are beginning to practice. Throughout Mosley’s childhood, however, his tiny school of 60 kids was far from prepared.
“We were stuffed in the corners of our classroom,” Mosley recalled. “All of the classrooms had windows, so we were moved to a few windowless rooms. Some students were also put into the bathrooms, but I was never really worried. It was a small school and I never thought anything serious could happen to us.”
However, anything is better than nothing. In 1999, the Columbine High School Massacre shocked the nation, bringing about sudden additions to the typical drills.
“When I was in high school from 1974 to 1978, we did not do lockdowns. That was not something anyone even thought about,” math teacher Mr. Wade said. “There weren't many shootings, or certainly nothing like Columbine that changed everybody's way of thinking about the world.”
"Times are changing, so humanity must change with it."
Before 1999, school shootings or enforcing lockdown drills regularly were never thought of. Everyone perceived their schools as a safe place to be before this tragedy.
Wade stated, “I never worried about anything like that. I have always thought about New Prairie as a safe place to be. Columbine was a transformative event in our nation. It showed that stuff really could happen to us and we do have to take this seriously.”
Students who received schooling after or during Columbine recognized the changes in their educational journey. Ways of thinking were drastically shifted and awareness heightened after this massacre, according to music teacher Mr. Bennett.
“Most of my schooling was after Columbine, so until then I never really contemplated the idea of something like that happening,” said Bennett. “Today, unfortunately, it feels like every other day on the news you hear another story about a shooting.”
With school shootings becoming more common as time progresses, having conversations about these issues in class is vital. Openly discussing and planning for worst case scenarios is the best way to prepare.
Bennett stated, “At the end of the day, if there is someone in the school, their goal is to just hurt and kill as many people as possible. More than anything, confronting it, talking about it, and viewing it as a real possibility is really important.”
Times are changing, so humanity must change with it. Unfortunately, these changes may cost lives, but they can also bring about opportunities to save them.