Amanda Hay (’19) scavenges through the emergency bucket. Photo illustration by Ivy Duong.by Ivy Duong, Staff Photographer and Vivian Le, Staff Cartoonist
On Feb. 3, a gun scare occurred on Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) campus that was likely to have left an impact on the staff and student body. For many of the students, it was their first time experiencing something potentially dangerous on their school campuses.
“All I know is a kid thought it would be a good idea to bring a fake gun, trying to show it off and he got caught for it,” said Dylan Nguyen (‘17).
The staff further discussed the issue together during a meeting on the following Monday morning. Administration urged the teachers to discuss about Friday’s accident. Some teachers, like English teacher Elise Hamilton, has decided to take time out of her class periods to review the procedures in a lockdown drill and ensure that her students were aware of what to do in different situations.
“I pulled all five of my classes and when I asked if they knew what to do in case of a lockdown or in case of an emergency, hardly any students said that they were confident in knowing what to do in all of their classes,” said Hamilton
When asked how this year’s procedures differed from the other years, Michael Eich, an art teacher at FVHS, said, “Actually it’s an ongoing evolving situation that’s been happening since I started teaching. We see a progressionary change in people and people’s attitudes and the way people react. And so, the schools are adapting along with those changes that are occurring.”
Hamilton explained that in the situation of an intruder on campus, students have to follow a procedure that is “run, hide, and fight” in that consecutive order. The first thing is the teacher will have to check to see whether or not the coast is clear, if they are confident that the intruder is far away from their students, they will be able to evacuate their students off of campus. However, if the intruder was near, the teacher would have to barricade the door and the students will hide. Only in the very last case scenario, if the intruder were to enter the classroom, only then will the teacher and students be able to fight back.
“There’s an old saying back in the 1950s before I was born that talked about the ten worst things that teachers had to put up with. And back in the 50s, it was kids cutting in line, kids chewing gum, those types of things. And now, it’s radically changed over the years,” said Eich.
