Unfortunately, across the country, today’s teachers and students step onto school grounds and have to conduct drills on active shooter scenarios. We didn’t have that scenario what I was a child. Luckily, my children made it through school. I worked as an aide at their school in the elementary grades.
I’ve noticed a pattern in the books I’ve read. Whenever a person is doing a good thing or something innovative, there is always someone creating a roadblock, trying to shut them down and set them up for failure. I see it as jealousy. Good conquers in the end but the person being tested endures some tough things they have to rise above.
Kaitlin and her first grade class survived a horrendous massacre because there was a small bathroom in the room that they hid in and pushed a rolling cabinet in front of it as a disguise. Teachers and students in the next room and others perished. The principal and counselor perished while trying to tackle the gunman.
I won’t repeat the accounts of that day here. Because of what Kaitlin witnessed, she thought of safety features that could be implemented in case of a future incident.
When the school reconvened at an old school building, she presented her requests to the superintendent. The requests were denied. Kaitlin had also begun starting some good projects to turn the focus on positive action. One of the projects was to have her previous college professor do a writing book with her class just for fun to get their minds off what they had endured. The superintendent said no to that as well.
One of the projects Kaitlin had started was adopting another class in another state to do good deeds for with her students. As good things started to happen, the superintendent made her leave without saying goodbye to her class and instructed her to have no contact with any of them.
One day, the mother of a boy whose family had another tragedy occur since the shooting asked her to join them at a restaurant because she thought it would cheer him up to see his teacher. Word of it got back to the superintendent who stated Kaitlin had violated the terms.
The school year came to an end and the children didn’t get to finish the year with their teacher. She began getting hate mail from other teachers who didn’t know what went on behind the scenes. They thought she had walked out on her class.
Over the summer, parents of her class organized a party at one of their homes for Kaitlin and her children to be reunited. She got married a few months later and focused on creating her non-profit. I hope I never face the same event and support her optimism.
Source by Laura M Schroeder
#Choosing #Hope #Book #Review book review
