Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
closed the door and made sure both doors were locked. Nolan w ent to th e f l o or. I l o o ke d i n the cabinet and found gloves. I went into the small restroom in Darlene's office and pulled out a huge stack of paper towels. en I began applying pressure to the right side of Nolan's stomach area. He was in such pain and moving around quite a bit. "Darlene was on the floor next to her desk and dialed 911. She was describing everything I was doing to the 911 operator. I was talking to Nolan, trying to keep him conscious and calm. I told him he was a super hero. At one point, the operator asked Dar - lene if there was anything else I could add to the paper towels. Darlene directed Jennifer to grab her gym shirt from the gym bag in her office. I then put that on top of the paper towels. Also during this time, Darlene and I asked Jennifer to take the other students into the restroom and to be quiet as a mouse." It seemed like an eternity until police arrived , but it was less than 10 minutes, recalls Beuler, a marri ed moth er of tw o and grandmother who served on the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified school board from 2003 to 2008. "Two police officers knocked and yelled, 'Police!' After mak- ing sure that it was really the police, Darlene opened the door. We were told to hold our hands up, but I told the officer I couldn't move my hands because I was holding pressure on Nolan's gunshot wound. He quickly put gloves on and switched places with me. We also told the officers that there was an aide and eight other students in the tiny restroom. We were evacuated out of the front of the school. By then the rest of the school had evacuated. We were taken to Cajon High School and then Cal State University, San Bernardino, where four other students from Ms. Smith's class joined us. "Darlene, Jennifer and I stayed with Ms. Smith's students until all of them were picked up by their parents. Jennifer and the other aide did a great job getting stu- dents to follow them out of that classroom. [The other aide took students to the computer lab and out to the playground.] I couldn't have done what I did without Dar- lene. We made a terrific team." SBTA President Ashley Alcala observes that all the teachers who were involved in the traumatic events stayed calm and profes- sional that day. "They didn't allow their emo- tions to get in the way," says Alcala with pride. "ey stayed that way, and when it was over, they let out a huge collective sigh of relief. And then we grieved the death of a colleague and a student. We will never forget them." During the evacuation, Beuler was hoping and praying Nolan had survived. "Not knowing was very diffi- cult. Later that evening, I spoke to Rachel Brandy (Nolan's mom) and found out that th e bullet struck some major organs but that he was in stable condition. The next day, I was able to see him in the hospital and told the family what had happened in Darlene's office." Rachel Brandy, president of the school site council, says Beuler is indeed a hero. "What can I say? ere can be nothing greater than saving my child's life." e school closed for a week. Staff met with the dis- trict's crisis team before it reopened, and the team and school counselors have maintained a presence. On the first day back, there was lots of hugging and crying. e 19 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 017 Tips to Survive a School Shooting Prepare and plan what you would do if an armed attacker is on your campus. Try and exit, if possible. If you know the shooter is in another area of the building, try to evacuate your students to a safe area. If you can't exit, hide. Barri- cade your door with chairs, desks, sofas, etc. The bigger the barricade, the more likely a shooter is to move on to an easier target. Use a landline to call 911, if possible. In case the call is interrupted, the address will appear to the dispatcher. Silence your cellphone. It can give your location away. " I was talking to Nolan, trying to keep him conscious and calm. I told him he was a super hero."