Columbine, revisited; Heavy Heart but Silver Lining
School's back in, full swing. This is our 3rd week; I'll give my first test this Friday. So far -- so good. Today after school we watched the school safety video. This is a required video, since Columbine. It gives a re-enactment of a school shooting situation, with explicit instructions for those of us who work at a school, showing us how to handle such a situation if (Heaven forbid!) one arises. This is probably at least the 6th or 7th time I've watched that video -- and it never fails to leave me covered with goosebumps and a knot in my stomach. And while I know the system, and I know what I'm supposed to do, and I know exactly how to perform when we have a lockdown drill....it still saddens me that schools have come to *this*. This is my 30th year in NC education. I think back to my first few years in the classroom and so much has changed. Did we worry about guns and snipers back then? Not really. Oh, there was usually a fight or two of large proportions i...