Great Mills

I heard an alert on my phone so I rolled out of bed and picked it up to check it out.  It read, 'School shooting in Maryland.'  In a matter of seconds I went from "oh, crap" to "Oh my God, no!" That after I clicked on the link to the Washington Post and saw that the shooting had taken place at Great Mills High School.  Great Mills is one of four high schools in the St. Mary's County Public School system.  It is the system in which I taught.  Great Mills is the high school where I coached volleyball, basketball and softball.  I have been shaking and crying all day.

The gun violence in this country is horrifying.  We cringe when we hear Tucson, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernadino. As horrific as those mass murders were there's something more nauseating when you hear Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland...and Great Mills.  It's kids.  It's teachers.  There's a reason that school campuses were the first to be declared NO GUN ZONES.  These are supposed to be safe places.  Places where a kid doing the right thing can go and be assured of a day without violence.

Early on, St. Mary's County schools prepared as a possible target for terrorists. Being only sixty miles south of Washington, D.C. surrounded by two major Naval installations and a nuclear power plant made us vulnerable. We drilled.  We practiced a variety of different lock downs. Every one of my 4th graders knew the codes and what to do.  Nine-year olds shouldn't have to learn the code for active shooter on campus.

I'm shaken.  I can't stop crying. I have been away long enough that I don't know any of the students currently at Great Mills and am unsure which of their faculty members I still know.  But this is personal to me.  Anyone associated with a school which has been victimized by gun violence -  whether student, parent, staff, alum or system retiree -  will carry that burning scar the rest of their lives. It's a family thing.

The latest Washington Post update
For reference, on the map shown in the story I lived in California and taught in Leonardtown for 10 years, coaching at Great Mills during that period.