With the attack on our nation’s Capitol, does this mean the politicians in Washington, D.C., will be starting monthly “active shooter drills” like our children have been doing in school for years? As a retired teacher from the Anchorage School District, I remember these drills: explaining to my middle school students about moving desks or bookshelves to barricade the classroom door, how to be prepared to throw textbooks — or anything they could get their hands on — at an intruder trying to get in, or silently sitting in the dark huddled up against a wall away from windows until we get an “all clear” over the intercom.
Perhaps this horrible event will help our leaders in Washington, D.C., understand what educators and children across the nation have experienced in their own schools. And do something about it.
— Holly Karjala
Anchorage
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