Current Location: home...finally...
Current Mood: indescribable
So today was supposed to be chill and a cakewalk. It's the day before the last day of school, the last of my original batch of kids graduated, and the rest of us were going to have a party or two (one today shared with the 2nd/3rd graders and then my pizza party tomorrow). But life has other plans...
Not thirty minutes after we get underway the alarm bell goes off, but signalling the earthquake alarm...sensing "suspicious" in the air...I stepped out to hear "lockdown" being yelled by teachers left and right. I ran to the computer lab to notify them to lockdown since I had five kids there and then to Rm. 16 to tell K/1st grade to lock up but got the custodian to stop as he ran by to lock them in. The 4th/5th/6th grade were locked in by the teacher of that room. I had locked my room already and told my kids to stay put and only open it for me, which they did...praise them for listening.
So we spent two hours listening to the helicopter patrol over our school. We had occasional broadcasts over the PA and the teacher next door communicated with us through the partition wall. We knew it was dead serious when headcounts were being taken. More than a few of the little kids started getting worried and cried. I had to delegate two 7th graders to keep them comforted while I made the rounds notifying my boss and other staffers who hadn't come in yet. Eventually the assistant principals came around to escort students to use the bathroom but we were still under lockdown. Eventually we were released when we saw my boss coming in with the snacks, lockdown was over. It was 5 o'clock by then so there was no more Chinese classes and the kids had an extended break and the rest of the hour was spent watching videos and relaxing from the whole thing.
I learned later that an old recluse who lived opposite the school over a gully and behind the library had been taken into custody. He's an old fellow who blares Christian talk radio while working on the heaps in his yard. I figure some of the kids who explore the gully saw him or he must've tried to scare them from going back through the gully. What ever the case, it was stupid and wore out a lot of innocent kids and made more than a few cry.
I've never felt so tired before. I've been in my share of lockdowns but this was the first where I was responsible for others. Eight of my kids, the dozen plus 2nd/3rd graders, and two more extra 7th graders who ran in at the alarm. I was sweating buckets and nervous but had to stay calm so I wouldn't panic the kids. I'm still kind of coming down from that high, I don't like it...kids shouldn't have to be locked in at school. They shouldn't have to come crying to grown-ups asking what if "something" happens to them and the rest of the others. It isn't right, I don't know if I'm in the right line of work now. It was very hard to maintain the ocean of calm for those kids. | 
