What a way to start the week

Yesterday already had its own set of anxieties. The events of 9/11/01 will forever be remembered. So it was a little heart-stopping when during our morning announcements at school, the attendance clerk interrupts over the intercom and says we were now in a "lockdown." That means someone is on the campus causing a disturbance and we needed to lock our doors. The TV screen darkened. The children involved in the morning announcements were taken to a safe place. The next announcement was that all people in the portables needed to come into the building. Well, there's six portables and I am in one of them. So I call the office and find out that I needed to be inside the building ALL day. So I pack up what I can in my computer bag and go into the building. I asked in the office about a room and since there would be no computer classes all day, I set up my things in the computer lab. I had to have a master key to unlock and lock the door all day. Teachers could not let any children walk the halls unattended. Bathroom breaks meant everyone went at the same time. No outside recess was allowed. Rooms had to be locked all day.

So are you wondering why all of this? Why the lockdown? It seems that a parent came to school VERY irate. She came in and cursed out everyone in her path. She threatened all those in charge...and some. She even tangled with our only male teacher on the campus...and he's big. The police were called. They came and cuffed her. They took her away to jail. It was all very sad, especially for the child.

So I came to school this morning, wondering how the day would go. Hoping it would only get better. Just before lunch, while I had students in my portable, I get a call from the office. "Sue, lock your door. The women's been let out of jail." Okay, how do I do this without making the students feel scared? Then there's an announcement over the intercom. saying there will be no classes in the portables until further notice. Alright, now what? I call the office, and they tell me to stay locked in the portable with my students. "What about lunch?" I ask. (Lunch is very important to all.) "Call the office when you need to come into the building for lunch." Okay, so now we turn our attention back to school work. Yeah, right. Well, when we did come into the building, I find out that the parent did come back to school but was met by police at the front door. The police had been on our campus all morning. I guess they knew she'd come back. She just wanted to take her child out of school. What a shame. Another sad incident where a child suffers because of the parent's behavior.

And this didn't happen in some low socioeconomic, depressed area of Dallas County. This happened right here in an affluent area of Denton County. People with problems and not able to cope. Needy people. They're everywhere. All socioeconomic status, all races, all ages.

Oh, how we need the Lord.