{"id":62962,"date":"2015-04-30T12:45:23","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T19:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=62962"},"modified":"2015-04-30T13:43:35","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T20:43:35","slug":"teachers-students-prepare-to-care-for-selves-in-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2015\/04\/30\/teachers-students-prepare-to-care-for-selves-in-emergency\/","title":{"rendered":"Teachers, students prepare to care for selves in emergency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Staff<\/a>
Staff participating in the exercise meet beforehand to discuss the course of events and the objectives of the drill. (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE – Students at Palmdale Learning Plaza calmly turned off lights and computers and came together behind their teacher\u2019s desk. Meanwhile, their teacher made an announcement over the school PA system to secure all classrooms.<\/p>\n

In the hallway, a group of school administrators observed, making notes of what went right and what could be improved as the students and staff participated in a campus-wide emergency drill.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/a>
Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy Dale Luvvik leads a debriefing the\u00a0conclusion of the exercise. (contributed)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe drill ran well,\u201d said Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado. \u201cOur staff did a fantastic job and students acted just how we have planned, in order to remain calm and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Run in close cooperation with the Palmdale Sheriff\u2019s Station, the exercise simulated an intrusion into the front office and had teachers identifying possible hazards and taking defensive measures, such as securing their classrooms and alerting authorities.<\/p>\n

Within a minute of the PA announcement, doors were locked, classrooms were dark and the school seemed deserted.<\/p>\n

Maldonado used a key to open a few classroom doors, only to find the lights off and furniture stacked in the doorway. Teachers were also calling a simulated 911 line to report the incident.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Los Angeles County Sheriff volunteer acts as a 911 operator during the exercise, taking calls from teachers reporting the intruder. (contributed)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe practice so we can be ready for any emergency,\u201d explained Palmdale Learning\u00a0Plaza Principal Danny Kanga. \u201cEveryone on our team did great. I have complete confidence in the ability of our students and staff to stay safe and care for one another in the event of an intruder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents, students and staff were all notified prior to the exercise. District administrators were stationed around the school to provide support and answer questions.<\/p>\n

Participating staff and observers came together to debrief after the exercise. Los\u00a0Angeles County Sheriff Deputy Dale Luvvik, whose primary responsibility is to work with Palmdale School District, led the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything went very smooth and calls were made to 911 quickly,\u201d reported Luvvik.\u00a0\u201cHistory has shown that events like this are stopped by law enforcement coming out.\u00a0The faster we get law enforcement here, the faster it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n

This exercise is just one of the emergency drills that happen at every campus across the Palmdale School District, including fire and earthquake drills. These drills are designed to help prepare students and keep district staff\u2019s skills honed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to make plans,\u201d said Maldonado. \u201cExercises like these let us see how well our plans work and how we can improve them. Today they worked very well, including our communications.\u201d<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE – Students at Palmdale Learning Plaza calmly turned off lights and computers and came together behind their teacher\u2019s desk. Meanwhile, their teacher made an announcement over the school PA system to secure all classrooms. In the hallway, a group of school administrators observed, making notes of what went right and what could be improved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}