Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/274063
12 were injured, it was 56 against two — and the two won. That shouldn't happen, says Alvarez. Under the "alert" part of ALICE, schools are urged not just to announce a lockdown, but to announce over the PA system that a shooter is on campus, what he looks like and where he's located, so that teachers know they can evacuate students in areas where the attack isn't happen- ing. Students can be taught to leave the building, scatter and rendezvous at a safe location previously agreed upon. As for fighting back — that is a personal decision, says Alvarez. "If you have 25 students in class throwing textbooks or chairs and someone with a fire extinguisher on the side of the door ready to spray, you can save lives," says Alvarez. "In the beginning, it wasn't easy to convince people about this. They would say, 'I'm not trained to do any- thing but teach.' Unfortunately, we need to make this type of training as mainstream as fire drills. When's the last time a child died in a fire? It was 1958. When is the last time a child died due to violence in school? It was probably last week." Testing out the new strategies CTA members and other workshop participants are told to return to their classrooms and try again. This time, in multiple scenarios, they practice skills learned from the ALICE training. In Group 3, they build a barricade with a participant's belt, but it snaps easily. (Many get shot.) They hear an armed intruder in another part of the school and decide to evacuate by climbing out a window and also fleeing out the door. (One person is shot.) Next, it's the "last resort" scenario when nothing else works and it's time to fight back. Participants are given rubber balls to throw (in lieu of books, staplers, chairs and other heavy objects during a real-life situation) to distract the shooter while he is rushed by individuals stationed on either side of the door. FEATURE Participants actually disarm ALICE trainer Al Bahn when he pushes open the door. It happens so quickly, Bahn doesn't have time to fire one shot. Michael Kehoe, a school counselor and TBTA member who ends up with the pellet gun during the melee, says he feels empowered. "But I think about what this would have been like if we'd had a classroom full of chil- dren," he muses. "How would we respond? I'm not sure, but this has really raised my consciousness." "The scenarios really brought this to life," says school nurse Jody Johnson, Plumas County Teachers Association. "It got my adrenaline going. Nothing helps people learn something better than practicing. As educators, we know this." Paula Silva, a member of the Big Valley Teachers Association, says she worries about school violence, but feels she now has options in the unlikely event that a shooter enters her campus. "We live in a remote area, and we don't always get a timely response from law enforcement," says Silva. "But this gave us a good sense of the things we can do. I think it's worth it to fight, as opposed to just sitting in a corner waiting for something to happen." "We're in the business of educating children," says Heather Wright, TBTA. "I guess you could say after this training that the business of education just got a little broader." For more information on the ALICE Training Institute, visit www.alicetraining.com. Above: H eat h e r Wr i g h t and Tr i c i a B row n w atch a video of the shooter scenario s. Left: School n urse J od y J o h n s o n s ay s, " The scenario s really brough t this to life." Paula Silva P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N 30 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 30 3/6/14 10:52 AM