A.L.I.C.E -Not In Wonderland Anymore
Much like Alice from the beloved children’s story was submerged into a strange new world, high school students are now being immersed a new and frightening, yet all too possible reality -an intrusion in the building. School shootings have been increasingly reported in the news, and so on Friday January 29th, the senior class went through the A.L.I.C.E training in case such an incident should occur. (This is the same program that the teachers had to go through earlier in the year.)
In the training, Officer Bruner stressed to the students that, if an intruder comes into the building, it is important to stay calm and follow these steps (with no specific order):
Alert
Tell others what is going on.
Lockdown
Lock the classroom and, if able, barricade the door with desks, cabinets, and other usable items.
Inform
Call 911
Counter
Grab things that could be used to defend yourselves -however, Officer Bruner stressed to not confront them and to avoid it if you can. If not, then be prepared to defend yourself.
Evacuate
Leave the building/run.
These steps led to the acronym A.L.I.C.E., and in order to ensure preparedness, the seniors viewed a video by Auburn University, which visually demonstrated what to do in such a situation.
Officer Bruner also stated that this lesson can be applied outside of school, stating, “We don’t want to scare you; we just want to give you some life skills for after you graduate.”
And, following up with this, Officer Bruner gave an example of how something like this could happen in a restaurant and hadseniors list items that could be used for defense and what steps they could take to ensure safety. He also used a hornet analogy, and stated that “swarming” as well as “distracting them” can be effective. Continuing to speak about life after high school, he then emphasized how, “no one will hold your hand” and that “you have to be proactive and get the job done.”
After the A.L.I.C.E. training, new principal Dr. Hartbauer spoke briefly to the seniors, stating, “I couldn’t have asked for a better senior class...you guys have accepted this change and I appreciate that.”
He then announced a new senior tradition that he is starting this year. In the courtyard, each senior class will be putting their name on and decorating a small ceramic stone. The stones will then be layered in the courtyard in a circular fashion, with each senior class having a different color.
After his announcement, Dr. Hartbauer then left the seniors with a bit of advice for after graduation, stating, “You have to make sure you make the right decisions...don’t be a could’ve been, should’ve been, or a has been,” concluding the assembly on a rather contemplative note.
Posted: Friday, February 12, 2016