Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/274063
N A W O R S T- C A S E S C E N A R I O , teachers usually lock their classrooms, hide with students and wait for police. It doesn't always work. It didn't work in Columbine 15 years ago or in Sandy Hook Elementary one year ago. Some educators are learning how to be proactive to increase the odds that students and staff will survive a shooting. They are learning skills they hope they will never have to use, such as how to build barricades, evacu- ate students during a rampage, and even distract or disarm a shooter with the help of students as a last resort. Such training is taking place in rural Modoc County, where a year ago a teen threatened to shoot "a classroom of kids" along with faculty members at the local high school. He was apprehended by police, who caught him holding a knife on his parents and attempting to load E ducators are learning to be proactive to increase the odds of sur viv al. Here, teachers barricade a classroom door to deter a shooter during an ALICE (Aler t, Lockdown, Inform, Coun ter and Ev acuate) training. a rifle. Now, in an empty schoolhouse in the town of Likely, CTA mem- bers, administrators and law enforcement agents practice survival skills. "You may have adrenaline rushing and get caught up in the moment. If you get scared, yell 'safety, safety, safety.' If someone screams those three words, you must stop what you are doing immediately." After hearing these instructions, groups of teachers and other train- ing participants don safety masks and walk into empty classrooms. One member of each group has a two-way radio; soon a voice resonates over the airwaves that the scenario is about to begin. The participants in Group 3 become quiet and dim the lights. They huddle in a corner quietly. Outside, a male screams, "Open up. I know you're in there." The door bursts open and he begins shooting. After firing numerous shots, he departs and visits the next classroom. "Hello, hello, I know you're in there," he yells tauntingly, and begins shooting all over again. www.cta.org 25 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 25 3/6/14 10:52 AM