Friday, September 07, 2007

First lockdown drill held at SMS

By SARAH PHILLIPS
Room 210 Staff Writer


South Middle School was safely locked down in one minute and thirty seconds during the school's lockdown drill Aug. 30.
As recently as last year, SMS Principal Mr. Ron Mitchell said, he didn't think it was important
to do the lockdown drill, but his opinions changed thanks to he actions of a seventh grader at Memorial Middle School last October.
"Ever since Thomas White brought a gun to Memorial Middle School, we've seen reason to worry about safety. This is the first lockdown drill we've had in a few years."
Overall, Mr. Mitchell thought things went well.
The lockdown drill was one of four held at the school during the first three weeks. Two fire drills and a tornado drill were also held.
"We are required to have two fire drills, one lockdown drill, and one
tornado drill in the first weeks of school," Mr. Mitchell said. "We know everyone hates fire drills, but we are required to have 10 fire drills a year. Last year we didn't have a tornado drill until the spring, but this year it was required."
All 19 schools in the district are required to have all these drills. Even private schools have to follow city ordinances.
"We practice these drills so that you'll be able to know how to react in situations like these!"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hasn't the lockdown drill always been there? If so how come we've never practiced it. The day Memorial had a student with a gun in it South was in a lockdown situation and no one hardly knew what a lockdown was. I think we should it should be mandatory that we practice all drills we have, whether we intend to use them or not.