by Whitney Dampier

Recently, the Willow Springs High School faculty went through intruder training. The purpose of the training was to teach the faculty how to effectively and efficiently respond to an intruder in the school. Officer Moore feels it is important for all staff to be flexible and able to have a plan if this ever occured. Because intruders at other schools have used different tactics, teachers need multiple plans, and this is what Officer Moore and Mr.Dunlap are trying to accomplish here at Willow Springs.

In the past years many schools relied on law enforcement to arrive to confront the intruder bent on doing harm to others, but what happened in Columbine, Colo. showed schools that it is important to be prepared before an incident occurs. The students and faculty of Columbine were uneducated in dealing with intruders and were not prepared for this form of incident.  That is why Willow Springs is taking the proper precautions to keep the students and staff safe.

Officer Moore is discussing with the the School Board what kind of drills we might need here at Willow Springs School to properly prepare students in the case of an intruder or school shooting. Many students react in different ways, by running, hiding, or taking part in stopping the incident. If students are untrained, many would rely solely on the teacher for protection. If all students have been through the drills, this allows the students to have safer strategies for helping to protect themselves. While many schools have fire drills, there hasn’t been a death of a student due to a fire in many years; however, many school shootings have happened around the country in previous years.

Many students and staff say, “It will never happen here.” Chances are that it never will, but all schools need a plan. Having well-trained students and teachers might even prevent an intruder from coming to our school. Officer Moore has a goal to create a “care group” here at Willow Springs. What this group’s mission will be is to provide troubled students with teachers to which they can talk about what’s troubling them. One statistic states that 85%  of those responsible for school shootings told someone of their plans  previous to the shooting. This “care group”  will provide a respectful opportunity for students to come and talk to about what is going on in their lives.

Willow Springs High School has already taken many precautions to keep the students and staff safe by keeping most doors locked at all times.