18 children
And one teacher
were killed today
by an 18 year old school shooter.
(And maybe more will not make it)
The second major incident of gun violence to make it to my news radar this month.
And there were over 200 that never made it to me.
We have drills
We have trainings
We have debriefs
But we will never have peace of mind
And in hearing about this tragedy,
This unthinkable catastrophic normality,
I think first about where in my classroom would we go.
Where are the locks and the curtains and the heavy objects to use to barricade the door.
I think about where are the books for throwing in self defense
And where are the sharp objects I could use to break the window.
And then I think about how the news would reach my person.
And my people
And I think about how i would recover if this happened here
how this is community would recover
And I think about how would the situation change depending which class i was with,
and their dynamics, and their needs,
And how I would best protect them,
And how could we get through this together,
And
I think of of each and every one of them.
The 58 on my class rosters.
And the many more who are not.
I think of their faces
(Or half visible faces)
And I think of the goodness I see in them all.
And I can’t think of the world without them.
And
I try to think of anything else
anything besides the idea, the possibility, of this happening.
19 children were killed.
And 2 adults.
27th school shooting
212th mass shooting
1984 people killed by guns
In the United States of America
in 2022
so far.
And I have to say so far
Because there will be more.
For these irreplaceable,
individual, incredible human beings
who have taught me how to be a teacher,
i want more for them.
more than this never-ending barrage of preventable and catastrophic violence.
I want more accountability and action and shelter and healing and care for them.
and
i want more for me.
Sources: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/, https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1101050970/2022-school-shootings-so-far
Critical Points (of a Multivariable Function) 
This was truly a tragedy and our hearts go out to their families. My heart also goes out to you as these feelings you face come to the surface. I know we can never know exactly how we will react in such a situation. We can only go about our day and not live in fear. Thank you for putting your feelings out there for others to see. I know it must be hard to share true feelings in the face of such a situation. The best we can do is keep them in our prayers and educate others in the hopes of stopping such a terrible act from happening again. Take care and God bless
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