I AM A TEACHER
I am a teacher, albeit retired. I started my career in 1967-68. It was an amazing, stressful, joyful, eventful year. I was 21 years old when I started, turning 22 that October. I still remember that first day: so scared because here I was barely feeling like the adult, tasked with being in charge of 24 fifth grade students.
I was afraid of all kinds of things, from forgetting names to not following the schedule to losing materials or not having enough materials to not knowing the answers to their questions. But the year went relatvely well, though in the second semester I had to explain the word “assassination” after MLKJr had been killed, after RFK had been killed. I worried that my students would not understand, be frightened, and allowed them to ask questions. I tried to answer honestly without pushing my political leanings or beliefs on them. Still I was NOT afraid of my students or myself dying in our classroom!
I had a lot to learn. The only problem that even occurred is when an angry parent did not like the large bulletin board I had put up in the hall way. Each teacher was assigned a month to do the hallway bulletin board with their class. In this school of predominantly white/middle class, 60% Christian/Catholic, 40% Jewish families, my class was assigned December. In this school we had Dreidels hanging on the small tree in the school; we learned songs and talked about how celebrated either Christmas or Hanukkah. We decided on making the word PEACE using outlines of the students hands on colored construction paper, and underneath the large word, we wrote the words; “good will toward all” followed by a peace sign, and whoever wanted to sign it could do so. Apparently some parent felt it was “political”, lodged a complaint that my principal ignored. Leave it up he sad. Overall it was a good first year of teaching. I DID NOT HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHELTER IN PLACE WITH MY STUDENTS IN CASE A GUNMAN CAME TO KILL US.
After four years, I wanted to be challenged so I got a new teaching job in the opposite end of the large city in a more diverse community. It was near the river, near a refinery in a nearly 100 year old school building surrounded by polluting factories including SunOil, their oil refinery stack that burned off excess was the view from our window. We could see the flames clearly. The fenced in (high fence) playground was adjacent to the railroad tracks where freight trains whizzed on by. Up the street was a chemical/plastics factory, Congoleum. Remnants of the plastic pollution was visible on our cars. Many of the parents worked at the oil refinery, or Congoleum and some drove big rigs. Much of the housing around the school had been built by the owners of the refinery in the first half of the 20th century. The redbrick two story school had two entrances on the first floor. We were on the second floor and to be honest my biggest fear in the old building was fire. Wooden floors, concrete stair wells, and two exits for the entire school in an area where you could see fire burning off the excess from the refinery made one diligent in fire drills. There I had to learn how deal with hungry students, abused students, angry students. We, teachers went on strike for smaller classes that year (I had 32 students 12 of whom had special needs); a safer physical buildings; full time administrator for every school; teacher say in curriculum. Because the area was a strong union area, parents did not allow their students to cross the picket line, the strike only lasted four days and things improved. BUT I DID NOT HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHELTER IN PLACE WITH MY STUDENTS IN CASE A GUNMAN CAME TO KILL US.
In 1973 I moved with a friend to another state, CO, to an uber conservative, lots of military families, city. My first year there was wrought with tension. I ended up in hospital with an infected gall bladder, and had to miss weeks and weeks (in 1973 there was no arthroscopic surgery) so after ten days in the hospital, six weeks at home, I could go back. I only had 10 six days since it was my first year. No “donations” of sick days allowed, so I ended up having to pay for my own substitute. The next year the conservative board wanted to end the “collective” bargaining that the newly formed union (started in 1970) demanded. We went on strike. I had no tenure, was already in the hole financially from the previous year, but no way I would not stand in solidarity with my fellow teachers. That strike lasted two full weeks, and we did not even win our lost salaries back but we did keep collective bargain, got the right to donate sick days. I learned during that two week strike I was in an anti union, conservative uber religious city where parents would begin soon demanding to end Halloween as it was called “Satanic”, demand an end to teaching evolution, and start banning books. We fought back, held our ground and continued teaching science, continued fight off extreme theocratic leaning communities. STILL I DID NOT HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHELTER IN PLACE WITH MY STUDENTS IN CASE A GUNMAN CAME TO KILL US.
I remained in that city and district for the next 38 years. I taught full time for 30 of those years; teaching through the Reagan/Bush 80s, in an area that worshiped Reagan; where the only solace I found was in joining a Peace and Justice group, protesting with them; protesting to shut down Rocky Flats; protesting Reagns’ Starwars. I learned to stand up to crazed theocratic parents calling me a teacher of Satanism for doing a Halloween Activity. I leaned how to help other teachers not be bullied by crazed parents demanding to ban the reading of certain books; I learned how to be a leader in my building for the union. AND STILL I DID NOT HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHELTER IN PLACE WITH MY STUDENTS IN CASE A GUNMAN CAME TO KILL US.
UNTIL April 20, 1999. I was in my 32 year of teaching. I had moved out of the classroom into the job of librarian/tech educator in an elementary school since I had my MA in Tech Ed, and the district was beginning the implementation of a tech wiring/optic fiber in the district. We had FINALLY after 25 years gotten the very conservative community to pass a mill levy increase so the district could rewire all the schools, upgrade and ready the schools for internet. So there I was that day in the library, waiting for my next class, when my assistant came over and told me she had just gotten a call from one of her “assistant friends” that worked at a HS. She told her that there had been in shooting of some kind in Columbine, about 50 miles or so north of us. Our district, she related, had already “locked down” all the high schools and middle schools and as we were talking the principal came down and told us to make sure all outside doors were locked. All the teachers locked/closed their classroom doors and no one would be leaving the building; no recess until we were given all clear. That afternoon the principal had to go to a special meeting of all admin as soon as all children were gone. The next day she called our staff for a morning meeting to explain a policy called “SHELTER IN PLACE”.
I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO SHELTER IN PLACE WITH MY STUDENTS IN CASE A GUNMAN CAME TO KILL US.
I retired in 2005. I subbed until 2015. From 1999 thru 2015 I practiced “shelter in place” in various schools, as a full time teacher, as a sub. I have cried and cried and cried for our children. I now have three grandchildren, 14, 12 and 6 in schools and it breaks my heart that they have to “SHELTER IN PLACE”; that they have to learn that children their ages have been murdered with guns.
I AM A TEACHER, ALBEIT RETIRED. I AM ANGRY. WE ARE DESTROYING OUR CHILDREN, OURSELVES, OUR SENSE OF DECENCY BY ALLOWING THESE AMORAL, DISINGENUOUS JERKS OF THE GOP, ALONG WITH A FEW DS, HAVE POWER. WE MUST STOP THEM NOW.