Intruder Drill Practiced at Arrowhead
The crisis drill was designed to prepare students and staff in the case that an intruder enters the building. On the morning of Tuesday January 27th, around 9:45 am, Arrowhead High school had its first crisis drill of the 2014-2015 school year. The drill lasted approximately 40 minutes. According to Officer Pete Freyer, the last crisis drill at AHS was last spring. The school plans on having one or two more drills throughout this year.
“I feel more safe now that we have a plan to protect ourselves if something were to happen,” says senior Emma Schaefer.
While some students appreciated the crisis drill, others found that it took up too much class time.
“ I thought the drill was useful, but too long. It showed us things to protect ourselves and I liked how it prepared us for a real situation.” Says Nico Sardina
Arrowhead High School is currently using a form of the crisis drill called the ALICE Drill. The purpose of this drill is to teach students and staff how to not only secure their classrooms from danger, but also protect themselves if they are in harms way.
Deputy Pete Freyer says that purpose of Tuesday’s crisis drill was to make students aware that the protocol for crisis drills has changed. For many years, students have been told to hide and wait for police to come and save them. This method is no longer reasonable as intruders are now acting fast, and the violence relating to school shootings is increasing dramatically. Using the ideas of the ALiCE Drill, students are learning how to protect themselves and others from danger.
“ What I liked about this drill is that teachers actually communicated with us, and we worked together to come up with a solution.” says AHS senior Kylie Schmeckpeper.
According to Deputy Pete Freyer, Arrowhead’s school resource officer, the best thing to do is to find an exit then escape.
“Students and teachers should create time and distance between them and the threat. People should also be aware of their surroundings, and be knowledgeable in using the tools around them to escape.” says Freyer.
According to Freyer, if you are unable to escape the next thing to do is barricade the room, making sure there’s no way of entry. If the intruder manages to get inside the room then the next step is self defense or counter defense. One should use common sense responses and work as a team to bring down the intruder.
“More people get hurt by waiting than by doing something.” Says Deputy Freyer
“I think If everybody learns it this could be a good system to keep everybody safe.” Says Mark Nihoris of the school’s new crisis drill.
Nihoris believes that by paying attention to warning signs, it is possible to decrease the likelihood of intruder alerts. Students and staff should be aware of other students who are trying to reach out of help. Often times, people who commit school shootings include people who are withdrawn from society and often friendless. These signs include people or students who are withdrawn, bad grades, friendless loners. To prevent situations such as this from happening, parents should get their kids involved in things to prevent them from getting to trouble.
Before coming to Arrowhead, Nihoris was in the law enforcement for 31 years. Nihoris thinks Arrowhead should have more drills during the year, so students can get themselves prepared. Nihoris believes that this system is good because it keeps students aware of the reality that an intruder could come into the school at anytime, so they need to be prepared.
“ The system is only as good as the people who do it right, and that takes practice.” Says Mr. Nihoris.
