On April 2nd, Casa Grande took their first-ever safety evacuation drill, which included the additional help of the Redwood Empires School Insurance Group (RESIG). This organization provides cost-effective risk management programs and services to the public school districts of Sonoma County and North Bay Security. The drill took place during second period at 11:30, and it took around an hour to finish.
The emergency drill was held in response to the community’s concerns about the safety of students and the school. Many people, especially parents, were concerned about what would happen in a disaster situation and how the school would be prepared. The drill was meant to be a dry run for emergency procedures, as well as a method to obtain overall feedback and experience for similar real-life situations
Ms.Noone was the main leader in this drill, and she directed the different groups of teachers and staff toward their roles. Mr. Hammner and Mr. Rolle, who were in charge of utility traffic security, said this about their experience: “Since it was our first time, I knew there was going to be some chaos no matter what. However, I thought it was a fantastic exercise for students and staff to have.” Beyond that team, there were also teachers assigned to search and rescue, innocent command, student supervision, and more.
From a student’s perspective on the other hand, the drill was rather sudden. During second period, an announcement was made about an earthquake drill, upon which students were instructed to shelter in place for 30 seconds and then walk to their class’s assigned yard line on the football field. After admin or counselors signed off on teachers, the teams in charge of recovery and faculty emergency procedures were able to walk towards the command center which was under the wooden overhang in the ole. When there, Principle Bridges gave a rundown of the groups and overall situation. As a reporter for the situation, I was placed with Ms. Noone’s team.
Our group was responsible for search and rescue, but many other groups had separate tasks. I happened to be in group 6 with Mr.Libecap, Mr.Hunt, and Mr. Markey, and it was fantastic to work with them all. We were given backpacks that included items such as a map with our zones (we ended up with zone six), painters tape to mark off doors, and Sharpies. We made our way over to the R-wing and entered every classroom, searching for any students or staff that could have gotten stuck in the disaster. When talking to Mr. Hunt about our experience, he thought, “It was a great experience for us to go through and I’m glad we did it.” During our search, we did end up finding a small water leak, but we reported it to the command, where it was addressed immediately afterwards.
Around 12:30 PM, the drill ended, and Ms. Bridges cleared everyone to come pick up their students. When speaking to my fellow peers after the drill, several students had positive feedback. One student, Riley Fenyves, said “I felt safe that we had the drill” and many others felt the same.
