On February 27th at 12:34 pm, State High went on lockdown due to a threat that was notified by a student. After the incident ended, many students and faculty started to question their everyday safety.

Liam Vollmer, freshman, said, “I think the kids acted in a timely and organized manner. Security has already changed in the past day. If you are going to enter the north building now they require an ID for any entry or exit and I think that it’s a good step to a safer environment.”

Laura Hoag, senior, said, “I think more communication to the teachers will be helpful. A lot of teachers were unsure on whether it was a drill or the real deal which caused a lot of confusion and many did not take it as seriously as it should have been. I was also concerned for the students in the cafeteria because they had no idea where to go because we have never practice a lock-down drill or a run, hide and fight drill while in the cafeteria, so I’m sure many were panicked.” Hoag’s respect for her teachers grew because they kept their cool and allowed them to sit down and talk about the lockdown after it occurred.

Lisa Falkowski, freshman, said, “In the class I was in, we were given information that made us go into run, hide, fight. I really appreciated how people stayed calm and went straight to what they had to do, which in our case, was barricading the doors and trying to protect themselves and others. I feel concerned that there are too many windows. I sometimes think that could interfere with our safety. All teachers did what was best for them based on what information they were given and I very much respect that.”

Curtis Johnson, principal of State High, sent out an email reassuring everyone that the event was taken care of in a safe and high alert manner. All students were safe and administration and staff have learned a lot from this experience for when it comes to the safety of this school community.