Students follow the drill
Photo by Christy Porter
Students at Licking R-VIII participated in the annual statewide tornado drill as part of Severe Weather Preparedness Week; pictured are elementary students “taking cover.”
By Christy Porter, Managing Editor
Licking R-VIII participated in the annual statewide tornado drill, which was activated at the Elementary and Junior High/High School levels, with different procedures for each, last Wednesday.
The JH/HS drill was activated at 10:30 a.m. and students with teachers left their classrooms and proceeded to lower levels and/or a safer location on campus.
Each area of the campus has a designated area to go, explained High School Principal Dr. Jarad Rinne. This is due to multiple buildings on the campus, which also necessitate speakers being utilized for the announcement that replaced the manual and automated bells.
Students proceeded to their designated areas in an orderly manner and waited patiently as they took a break from their normal routine. Evacuation was completed in a timely eight minutes.
The drill was conducted at the elementary campus at 11 a.m.
Students had reviewed the proper procedures and locations prior to the drill. They, with their teachers, proceeded to their designated safe places that included hallways, interior walls or rooms with no windows. Students in the modular buildings came inside the main school for shelter.
“If time allowed, in a real emergency we would evacuate the students to the FEMA building,” said Elementary Principal Brian Barry.
Once in their safe place the younger students got into a low crouching position, with their head down and both arms protecting the back of the head.
All students returned to their normal routine after the successful completion of the tornado drills.
Students at Licking R-VIII have participated in safety preparedness activities recently that have included other emergency drills.
