Well. We had quite an interesting day at school today. it was a normal day. 7th, 6th, 8th grade bands. then, 4th period i went to the bank. the bank was uneventful. i came back, and John, my supervising teacher, was running around the halls looking for all of the special area teachers (he is lead teacher for the specials). we had an emergency meeting 5th period (lunchtime, alas) to discuss security in the district. apparently, someone had called in shooting threats to the two high schools this morning. the events were supposed to occur around 1:00, so from 12:30 to 1:20, we underwent a total code C lockdown procedure. (the kids were told it was a drill... i'm not sure if i agree with them not knowing what was happening... or with us not being informed either). every classroom door was locked, the shades pulled down, lights out. every door to the building was also locked. there was no entrance to or exit from the building at all. kids were not allowed to be in the halls for any reason whatsoever. no one was allowed to go to the bathroom, for example. none of the special area teachers had classes, so we all had to go sit in the office in case there was an emergency or something we could do. we mostly just sat in there being scared and worried. (some of the teachers had kids who are students or teachers at the high schools.) fortunately, nothing happened, and they let us go.
then, of course, there is the news about our good "friend" the beltway sniper. so this guy 1) is an expert marksman 2) is from New Jersey 3) was caught in Frederick, MD (shoutout to jeffry the ho) 4) appears to have no conscience at all. recent events definitely added on to some of the fear at school today. of course, it wasn't helped at all by the fact that yesterday, a "hit list" was discovered on a picnic table outside, and the list was all band kids...... of course, it's not that we actually LIKE all of them......
i have a toothache. gr. i hope it's nothing serious...
exhausted