Nolan Ray is all ready to start 7th grade Monday morning.
“I’m really looking forward to all the new classes like Civics and everything that you get to take because I’m very interested in politics.”
But first he’s doing what he can to keep his fellow students safe.
“I feel pretty good about it because I like to help people.”
Nolan is recording a voice over for a Pasco School District video that all middle schoolers will watch. It teaches them what to do in case of an active shooter.
The days of closing the door and hiding in the dark are over. Instead officials are teaching the ABC plan.
A is avoid.
“We would try and run away from the attacker.”
B is barricading the doors, something students will work on during drills.
“You want to make sure you have the heavy stuff on the bottom, and then you pile the heavy stuff on top of it.”
And if the barricade doesn’t work, there is C. That is to counter attacker using whatever they can.
“Then the students will swarm the attacker and try to distract him by screaming,yelling and try to defend themselves.”
The training videos are tailored for each level. The one for elementary schools uses cartoon characters to get the message across.
It’s obvious Nolan already knows what to do.
“Just in case we have these sort of situations in school where we need to do the ABC plan I feel like it will be really helpful for students.”
The school district says they want to make it clear they are not teaching self defense to elementary age students or those not able to defend themselves. And the decision to use self defense is not a requirement.
