Saturday, September 01, 2007

Tornado Drill....Ooops I mean TORNADO THE REAL THING

School started Thursday before last and the day started out busy as ever. New kids coming in. Parents crying at the thought of their kids entering kindergarten. Me misting up a bit because I now have a 3rd and 4Th grader. The energy was great. The staff had been busy getting ready and were more than ready. The kids were a buzz, new teachers, old friends, new friends and of course showing off the new school clothes, backpacks and shoes. We settled into the day and to tell you the truth I was feeling pretty good. The school day ends here at 330 and around 230 we get a fax in about a storm coming our way. I had watched the news and knew that there was going to be rain and a storm. clouds were forming and the sky started to grow a bit darker but hey its just a storm right........WRONG. We kept getting more in for about the storm and then we got the news that a tornado was spotted. I swear what was five minutes felt like three days. Parents were calling and the switch board lit up like a Christmas tree, at the same time parents were coming in signing their kids out. Then the police dept called and NO ONE, absolutely no one was supposed to leave the building. By now its pretty dark and the wind is going the rain is pelting down and we have a school filled to the rafters with scared kids and worried parents. The Principal and Assistant Principal are out in the lobby as are the teachers and they are making order out of a very chaotic situation. We are checking Id's and getting everything as orderly as we can in the office. I am calling the police department every 15 min to get updates and to tell you the truth I am a bit scared because my kids are in the school too. They just aren't with me. But L advises me that they are safe and in the best place that they can be in. I finally get the all clear that the tornado would not be hitting us and that the parents can get the kids and go. It was roughly 445. So about 1 1/2 hours had gone by and we did it, we made order out if chaos. We worked together as a team and not one little hair on any ones head was out of place. Not bad for the first day of school huh. Who said that working in a school was boring?

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