In the past two weeks, Duncan Middle School held five safety drills for students and teachers. The last drill was completed this morning, when all students participated in the bus evacuation drill.
Since last week, students took part in six required safety drills, including a fire drill, lockdown drill, intruder drill, tornado drill, evacuation drill and the bus evacuation drill. The goal of the drills is to prepare for any possible emergency situation.
Eighth-graders Mya Padilla and Gerado Moran said they thought the safety drills are important in helping prepare students for worst-case scenarios.
Padilla said the safety drills have improved since she was in elementary school.
The drills help students prepare for real-life situations. For instance, if there is a fire at the school, they have an idea how to get out of the school and where to re-group with their classes, while teachers practice checking rosters to make sure everyone made it out safely.
By the time students get to eighth-grade, they are well versed in how each drill runs.
Moran said he likes that drills get students out of class, but he doesn’t necessarily like how some chaotic some drills are.
Most of the drills are timed, especially drills requiring students and teachers to leave the building. The administration typically follows up with teachers on how each drill went so improvements can be made in the future.
