Staff and Students React to Emergency Evacuation

On the morning of December 8th students and faculty evacuated the school due to threats.

On the morning of December 8th students and faculty evacuated the school due to threats.

Alyssa Blair, News Editor

December 8th started off as what students and faculty assumed would be a usual Thursday morning. Students filed into classrooms at the sound of the bell with teachers ready to begin their day of lessons. Several minutes before first period ended, a call for a shelter-in-place was heard through the school. This eventually led to an evacuation for students and staff due to email threats.

When the shelter-in-place went into effect, the code was announced through the school-wide intercom, as it usually is. A shelter-in-place is used to immediately account for students and to keep everyone confined to the classrooms and out of the hallways.  

Unauthorized persons are not in the school during a shelter-in-place, doors are locked, and shades are drawn. However, unlike other drills students and staff practice throughout the year, all class activities are permitted to continue. Students must remain in classrooms until notified by an announcement. If an evacuation of the school is needed during a shelter-in-place, a horizontal move would be implemented, just as it was the day of the threat. Several class periods went by without any announcement of the shelter-in-place being lifted. Reactions throughout the school varied among students as they awaited for more news on the nature of what was happening. Some student were anxious while others were excited by the possibility of an unexpected early release.

“I was confused. It was on the internet first, and they didn’t tell us first,” said sophomore Alisa Kotorobay. Others, such as junior Yasmin Aborida, had similar reactions. Not knowing what was happening as they waited in classrooms for most of the morning caused multiple levels of anxiety among students.

“I was in Photography when we got the announcement. We saw police activity outside and we started to feel more frantic. When we saw it on Masslive, I realized it was bigger than we thought,” said sophomore Emilia Caney.

Information regarding the possible evacuation and reasoning behind the extended shelter-in-place was released on several news websites, including Masslive and 22News, before it was passed along to teachers and students on the inside. Many classrooms only became aware of the possible threats from the aforementioned news websites.

While the situation in its early stages was quite overwhelming and frightening for some students, others had confidence it would all be worked out.

“I wasn’t scared, or nervous or anything. I pray every night, and I know God protects me, so I knew I would be okay,” said sophomore Samantha Biseinere.

When the confirmation of an early dismissal and evacuation was issued, it was a perfect distraction and even put a smile on some students’ faces. In fact, many students shared this general attitude.

Along with students, teachers were also dealing with the many emotions that came with the news of such a possible danger to our school. Some continued teaching in their classes for the duration of the shelter-in-place before evacuation commenced. Others allowed students to resume their own devices, which included anything from finishing last minute overdue homework to calling worried parents and assuring them of their safety.

While the threats resulted in some small triumphs in the midst of disorder, the seriousness of the matter cannot be taken lightly.

When students in Mr. Stan Svec’s room moved to look outside of the windows, he told them to remain seated. He talked to the students about the severity of the situation and why looking out the window could potentially pose a danger. He discussed the importance of responding to all drills seriously and the reasons behind having them.

“The real world starts at your window, sometimes you have to do more than look at it,” said history teacher Mr. Svec.

Mr. Giguere, an English teacher, was alone on his prep period in his classroom when the shelter-in-place was announced.

“I thought it was drill at first because it was getting close to the end of the year and there are many drills we have to get done in a year. I was concerned about my schedule and how to readjust my plans for classes missed,” said Mr. Giguere. The following day he and many other teachers spoke with their classes about why we have drills and the importance of taking them seriously by following protocol.

  At approximately 9:30 am, administrators and other school officials went into classrooms. They assured students of their safety and escorted them through the hallways to the main doors where all were dismissed to their respective methods of transportation.  All students and staff were evacuated safely, and all after-school activities and evening events were cancelled to assure the safety of the school and those in it.  

While such events don’t usually occur at West Springfield High School, all procedures were carried out correctly and concisely, allowing for assured safety of all faculty and students.