Today in the land of merry melodies (where I live), I received an automated phone call from my daughter's high school a little before lunch. I listened on speaker from across the room and the automated message said something about school grounds being vandalized and parents were welcome to take their children out of school if they felt it best.
This was the message (as copied from the follow-up email the school sent me): "On Thursday evening, March 1, 2012, there was an instance of vandalism at the Kettle Moraine High School. An exterior wall was spray painted with graffiti. This is under investigation with the support of Waukesha County Sheriffs Department and the Kettle Moraine School District Administration. The safety and security of our students and staff is the priority in all circumstances. Kettle Moraine High School remains open. The district respects the parent's choice to remove their student for the remainder of the day."
Apparently, I must not have understood the message correctly because I felt absolutely no alarm whatsoever. It took me all of about two seconds to consider and decide whether or not my daughter, the over-achieving honors student would rather stay in school or come home. If she wanted to come home, she knew she could call. So I left her at school.
A couple of hours later, sticky, wet snowflakes began to fall in droves, blanketing the world in heavy, cold whiteness. At least an inch of snow fell in the 45 minutes it took the school to call and say all extra-curricular activites had been cancelled. I waited for Anne to either walk in the door or call me to pick her up. I got nothing... So I slipped on my boots and coat and went to get her.
First, though, I had to wipe the snow off my car. I just want to put this in here so you understand how heavy the snowfall was. I brushed off the driver's side window and front window, then walked around to the other side of the car to brush off the passenger's window and a single swipe off the back window. I walked back around to my door to get in the car, and the front window needed to be brushed off again. The roads, of course, were very slippery and I was thankful to be driving during daylight instead of the customary post-activity twilight.
When I got to the school, the office staff was (thankfully) still there. They summoned Anne over the loud speakers for me. Anne responded by calling my cell phone.
"Is that you who just called me to the office?" she wanted to know.
"Yes. I got a call from the school saying all extra-curricular activities were cancelled."
"Okay, well, nobody here heard that. I am helping set up for tomorrow's Solo & Ensemble contest but I'll be right there."
She came to the front and we got in the car. Then she asked if I had heard about the day's excitement. I responded that I had heard there was some vandalism but I figured she would want to stay at school. She said I was right, but then went on to enlighten me as to the day's events. It seems that early in the day, some unknown vandal had spray painted on an outside wall of the school, "F*** this school. Everyone in here will die." Parents were notified by the automated message I received and many contacted either their children for more details. Some of the children also called their parents to give them details. As a similar incident happened last week at another nearby high school, parents were very concerned and a large number of students were pulled today from their classes to go home. (The remaining students had pretty much of a free day in class.)
Then, nearer the end of the school day, a text message began to float around the remaining children at school. It was another terroristic threat, claiming that everyone would die at a specific time in the day. Anne says the text message, "really freaked [her] out for a while." Now, I did NOT know about the text message or I would have come to pick her up right away. That kind of thing freaks me out even in retrospect! I reminded Anne that she has a cell phone and can call me anytime she feels frightened and I will come to get her. She acknowledged that she knows that, but happened to be in Band around that time and her Band director squelched her fears.
Needless to say, nothing happened and everything is fine. I feel sorry for whoever gets caught having vandalized the school and sending out that text message. (Talk about BIG Trouble!) But that was today's excitement.
This was the message (as copied from the follow-up email the school sent me): "On Thursday evening, March 1, 2012, there was an instance of vandalism at the Kettle Moraine High School. An exterior wall was spray painted with graffiti. This is under investigation with the support of Waukesha County Sheriffs Department and the Kettle Moraine School District Administration. The safety and security of our students and staff is the priority in all circumstances. Kettle Moraine High School remains open. The district respects the parent's choice to remove their student for the remainder of the day."
Apparently, I must not have understood the message correctly because I felt absolutely no alarm whatsoever. It took me all of about two seconds to consider and decide whether or not my daughter, the over-achieving honors student would rather stay in school or come home. If she wanted to come home, she knew she could call. So I left her at school.
A couple of hours later, sticky, wet snowflakes began to fall in droves, blanketing the world in heavy, cold whiteness. At least an inch of snow fell in the 45 minutes it took the school to call and say all extra-curricular activites had been cancelled. I waited for Anne to either walk in the door or call me to pick her up. I got nothing... So I slipped on my boots and coat and went to get her.
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| One Afternoon's Snowfall |
First, though, I had to wipe the snow off my car. I just want to put this in here so you understand how heavy the snowfall was. I brushed off the driver's side window and front window, then walked around to the other side of the car to brush off the passenger's window and a single swipe off the back window. I walked back around to my door to get in the car, and the front window needed to be brushed off again. The roads, of course, were very slippery and I was thankful to be driving during daylight instead of the customary post-activity twilight.
When I got to the school, the office staff was (thankfully) still there. They summoned Anne over the loud speakers for me. Anne responded by calling my cell phone.
"Is that you who just called me to the office?" she wanted to know.
"Yes. I got a call from the school saying all extra-curricular activities were cancelled."
"Okay, well, nobody here heard that. I am helping set up for tomorrow's Solo & Ensemble contest but I'll be right there."
She came to the front and we got in the car. Then she asked if I had heard about the day's excitement. I responded that I had heard there was some vandalism but I figured she would want to stay at school. She said I was right, but then went on to enlighten me as to the day's events. It seems that early in the day, some unknown vandal had spray painted on an outside wall of the school, "F*** this school. Everyone in here will die." Parents were notified by the automated message I received and many contacted either their children for more details. Some of the children also called their parents to give them details. As a similar incident happened last week at another nearby high school, parents were very concerned and a large number of students were pulled today from their classes to go home. (The remaining students had pretty much of a free day in class.)
Then, nearer the end of the school day, a text message began to float around the remaining children at school. It was another terroristic threat, claiming that everyone would die at a specific time in the day. Anne says the text message, "really freaked [her] out for a while." Now, I did NOT know about the text message or I would have come to pick her up right away. That kind of thing freaks me out even in retrospect! I reminded Anne that she has a cell phone and can call me anytime she feels frightened and I will come to get her. She acknowledged that she knows that, but happened to be in Band around that time and her Band director squelched her fears.
Needless to say, nothing happened and everything is fine. I feel sorry for whoever gets caught having vandalized the school and sending out that text message. (Talk about BIG Trouble!) But that was today's excitement.
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