Three school shootings in the past month—at Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota on Aug. 27, Evergreen High School in Colorado on Sep. 10 and Lincoln Middle School in Illinois on Sep. 16—have drawn national attention to school safety. With incidents occurring so close together, schools across the country are reviewing safety measures to protect students.
Believing that there is not necessarily a reason to worry about threats to safety, sophomore Dylan Phillips thinks that simply listening to the needs of students is enough for them to feel safe and comfortable at school.
“I personally think school safety is well, and people do listen,” Phillips said. “I say to always listen and try to relate to whatever anyone’s saying because someone could have an idea to help make everything more safe and better for everyone.”
While students may focus on communication, staff emphasize preparation and training. Teachers and administrators at North receive regular guidance on responding to potential threats, according to on-campus support staff member Colleen Koch.
“They teach you how to react to a situation,” Koch said. “The teachers are involved, your administration is involved, and they give you instructions, and we hope this never happens, but if it does, then we’re prepared to keep you all safe.”
Staff training and preparedness are just one part of safety. Sociology teacher Dennis Pascoe also emphasizes teachers’ personal responsibility to students. Ensuring student safety extends past procedures and drills to the personal care teachers provide in the classroom
“We’re constantly concerned,” Pascoe said. “Not only do we care about the kids in the class, we care about what happens to them. We’re here to protect them. We’re here to make sure that they are as safe as humanly possible, and we’ll do whatever we can to protect them.”
