Schools such as MHS have been thriving and enhancing the lockdown system with safety places to attend, steps to walk through, and attitude to endure during a code red situation.

Throughout the country, school shooting victims such as Parkland and Sandy Hook have gone through worse, frustrating and intense times. This has allowed Mayfield High School to act upon the intruder in an efficient way. The ALICE training clearly works and should continue to be used in the future.

An article called, “Developing Effective Lockdown Procedures” written by Michael Niola, demonstrates exactly what MHS did on the day of the incident.

Niola said, “The purpose of a campus lockdown is to provide an orderly way to minimize accessibility to areas of a campus, buildings, or rooms, to reduce the risk of danger to those on the site.”

There is no doubt in my mind that MHS did exactly what Niola said. MHS is the definition of prepared when it comes to these intense incidence.

Information was released immediately to students about the situation, followed by notifications to parents and an email to the Mayfield City Schools staff.

The email from Community Relations Director Laurie Uhlir said, “Mayfield High School was placed on a temporary lockdown this morning at 9:15 a.m. after an unauthorized person entered the building. The individual was immediately confronted and 911 was called.”

The desire for the school to reach out to all the parents and the district staff is wonderful.

Principal Jeffrey Legan has never been involved with an active lockdown until the other day. The steps he took were fierce and on the dot. Legan informed and protected the nearly 2,000 people in the building that day while other administrators informed parents.

Legan said, “Leaving the building is one option in a lockdown. It all depends on the threat. What is most important is assessing the threat based on the communication that is given.“

No other procedure is more valuable than getting the trespasser away from any point possible. MHS did a fabulous job to proceed with getting this person out of the building.

Due to the stress and emotion running through one’s body can put a dent in the way a person’s mind runs. With what happened to MHS and other schools this seemed to not affect them.

As many people know, Stoneman Douglas had a mass shooting with a depressing impact but the teachers did all they could.

The breaking news of the event occurred in Miami Herald, which said, “[The teacher at Stoneman] sacrificed himself for his kids, dying in the doorway of the room where he taught, using his last breath to yell that his classroom was empty in a final effort to save the students.”

Legan and other staff members have been through many practice ALICE scenarios. The teachers really know what they are doing, and I personally felt safe from their practice.

Legan said, “The teachers are there to keep the students safe. Additionally, to keep the students calm, assess the situation, and use their ALICE knowledge to determine the next steps “

The mood was turned into a positive experience in the MHS 11-12 side when Legan gave important information that settled the minds of many.

Senior Krista Rice was right near the intruder and as frightening as it seemed her the teachers demonstrated what bravery is.

Rice said, “The tension dropped when information was given out because this reassured many that the incident was taken care of.”

With all of the training that happened prior to the incident, the teachers really showed that the training paid off. It was amazing to witness how fluent these situations run when everyone is on their ball game.

Legan agreed that the knowledge behind the lockdown is very important. Legan said, “Information is needed to keep everyone safe! That will always be number one. “

The disturbance behind a lockdown will never go away or not be heard, but MHS did a marvelous job executing the process of the lockdown.