I am a teacher.

I have fought with my school district over and over because there is no safe place to hide children in my classroom. They gave me a piece of black construction paper to cover my window.

I have sat through an unannounced lock down drill.

I have sat in a dark classroom with a child sobbing silently in my lap, quietly repeating "I shouldn't have worn sparkles today. I'll never wear sparkles again." because she is not sure if this is real or not.

I have looked around my quiet classroom 20 minutes into the drill and prayed that the kids could continue to stay that way. Keep quiet, keep us safe.

I have had to finish the drill and get up and go back to teaching- like this is normal. The kids who goofed around are disciplined, the ones who are scared are counseled.

I have come to terms with the fact that I work in a dangerous business, on the first floor, in a classroom that faces an open field. Going to work is a risk.


I am a parent.

I am a parent in a different district than I teach in.

I pray every day that my babies will be safe. That they will have another beautiful day.

A part of me breathes a sigh of relief, every time I pick them up at the end of the day. Our guardian angels have kept us safe.

What a world we are bringing our kids into.


I am a human being. We are all human beings.

People are hurting. People are sharing it on Facebook and people aren't responding.

People need to start taking things seriously. People need to start caring for every human being around them. Those who need the most love, often show it in the most unloving ways.

People are in need of help and our systems to help them (people like you and me, agencies, our government) have failed them.

Until these systems are fixed, this will continue to happen.

Love and kindness and hope must prevail. We need to bring humanity back to our country.