Recently Green Mountain Union High School and the nearby community was forced to deal with something that has become a terrible reality across the world. On Tuesday, February 5, students woke up with the option to remain at home if they felt unsafe to attend school. The day before, there had been a call made that threatened the school and the students, but police and authorities were confident that the situation was controlled and that school could be in session. Thursday, February 7, right after lunch the school was sent into lockdown. Everyone had practiced lockdown multiple times, we all knew what to do, but this time it was real. Another call had been made, this time claiming that there were explosive devices in the school bathrooms and that anyone attempting to leave the building would be shot. Police were quick to arrive and to safely get everyone out of the building and make it to the evacuation location. That afternoon everyone got home and the school was cleared for any potential threat. The situation was controlled and the building was safe to return to the next day. Everyone involved cooperated the whole time and most importantly no one got hurt.
We interviewed two teachers, Ms. Brennen and Ms. Jones, on what their experiences were. Having not experienced a real life threat, simply the drills we have every month, nerves ran high. During the lockdown, some of the classroom phones were not working, meaning many students and teachers alike were initially unaware that a lockdown was in place. The teachers were taken by surprise when it first happened. High school social studies teacher Mrs. Brennan explained, “my first thought was that it was real… I saw Ms. Carafiello usher kids into her room.” At the time, Mrs. Brennan did not have any students in her classroom. High school art teacher Mrs. Jones thought “that it probably wasn’t a drill because we just had one,” when she first heard of the threat. Mrs. Jones’ phone didn’t work as well and she heard about the lockdown from kids in the hallway coming into her class. The situation sparked a “lot of good conversations” between staff members afterwards. She also said, “you read about this stuff and think ‘that could never happen to us’ but it almost did. It makes the whole situation real.”
Within minutes of the threat received Thursday afternoon, local authorities were notified and raced to the scene. Leading them was head of Chester police Chief Cloud. He explained that the threat claimed there were explosive devices hidden in the school, and students would be shot if evacuated outside. However, knowing that the threat was directly related to the one received Monday via social media, and by tracing the phone number used, authorities quickly came to the conclusion that the threat was linked to a man in another state, and felt fairly certain that he was nowhere near Chester. Still, to ensure the safety of all students, Chief Cloud explained that “with social media and everything, we had to make sure to air on the side of caution. With the explosive device, we wanted to make sure to put everybody in lockdown, because if they were in a place in the school, a locked down facility would try to keep them as safe as possible… We set up a perimeter to make sure the outside of the school was safe, and once that perimeter was set up, we knew that we could evacuate the kids safely from the school.” Cloud reiterated that the school grounds were thoroughly searched, and students were let outside only when it was declared clear. Overall, all school protocols were followed, and this experience has allowed the school and authorities to review the action taken in case of another threat. Officer Cloud explained that after any incident such as this, the officers and staff involved discuss in detail exactly what happened, what measures were taken to act, and in what ways may the response be even more efficient in the case of another threat.
Most students at Green Mountain had never experienced anything like this in their lives, and it brought about different kinds of emotions for everyone. Although it was a new and alarming experience, most of the students felt safe thanks to the drills that Green Mountain does once every month. Bonnie, a middle schooler, spoke about her experience, “I was in a different room that I usually have drills in, but I knew the basic rundown of what to do. [The teacher] told us where to go and we just continued how we usually would from there, I felt like I knew what to do.” Bonnie felt safe because of all of the experience she had with the drills. However, most kids and teachers were unaware it was not a drill. In some rooms, the announcement was not heard. A high schooler, Gary Gaudet said, “I did not know it was a real thing, I just thought it was another drill. But when I [realized] it wasn’t a drill, I started to take it more seriously. [At that point] I tried to focus on the people around me” and not thinking of what could be happening outside. Students successfully followed protocol and their teachers’ directions. But students were left wondering what was happening outside of the classrooms, unable to effectively communicate with their parents. Donna Heitsmith, a mother of a student that goes to Green Mountain said “to get a [text] when you are an hour away from your child that they could potentially be in a school with an active shooter… I was in a mode of... fright and panic for his life and all of the lives of all of the kids in the school.” At this point, students, teachers, and parents were unsure what the situation was, which was certainly unnerving for everyone. State troopers and the police force were on the scene to protect and guide the students to the designated evacuation location. It “went really smoothly. Once the police came and escorted us out we went outside and it seemed to go very [efficiently] and I think they did a very good job. There was no hesitation, we all knew what we were supposed to do,” said Lily Jones, a high school student. Once everyone was out of the school, students and parents were updated with emails from Vice Principal, Michael Ripley. Students were picked up/dropped off at their homes during the rest of the afternoon. Everyone went home safe.
After the threat at Green Mountain Union High School, students were told that they followed the procedure of being in a lock down and an evacuation perfectly. GMUHS practices drills monthly, to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing. According to the Burlington Free Press after the Parkland shooting, Vermont saw an increase in threats directed at schools. A few situations have been averted by students speaking up, they saw something, and they said something. As we continue to share these disturbing, yet important stories, schools and local authorities can better work to prevent and handle future situations.
- The Green and Gold Staff
Comments