I recently started substitute teaching in the Templeton School District.

In mid-November I was taking care of Mrs. Duhon’s class. I had been warned that there would be a lockdown drill that morning. We spent time that morning talking about good strangers and bad strangers and what the drill meant. Students had just read a story about a good stranger who came to a town that needed money and that he left a magical bird who helped the town. It was hard to talk about the bad stranger, but it is a reality.

The drill sounded and the doors were locked, lights were shut off and the students huddled next to the cabinets below the window so they couldn’t be seen. You could have heard a pin drop. I was so proud of them.

It is a sad statement of society that this drill must be done, but I am so thankful that the students of Templeton School District are prepared.