Fire Alarm!

Someone pulled the fire alarm today at lunch...

Initially I was pretty nervous. None of the students were in the classroom and with everyone being on edge the last couple weeks about the gang activity, I wasn't excited about what was about to happen.

The mass of students leaving the caffeteria and courtyard area was chaos, but suprisingly everyone made it outside and to the other side of the parking lot, just like it stated would happen in the manual. The students went back into their groups (almost completely divided by race and then another division by gang affliation).**

The groups of students stood, rather peacefully, for the entire length of the fire alarm. It seemed like we were outside forever. It was in the upper nineties here today with a high humidity. The little room under the trees nearby was filled by the students and the teachers needed to "stand gaurd" out in the sun. I think I was more ready to get back inside when the alarm was over than the students...

The only thing I didn't really understand about this whole event was why the student pulled the fire alarm. No fights took place, no classes were missed (well some time out of third period, but mainly lunch time), and the student didn't get out of a test). Honestly, who pulls the fire alarm at lunch time?!?

**I do want to make a note... not ALL of the students that go to Sharpstown are involved in gang activities. I want to make sure that people are aware of this. It does seem as if there is a very high percentage of students who are involved, but I do know that some are not. Also, there are a lot of good kids that go to this school... so please do not feel that any of the students are in anyway "bad kids." Some of them have made bad decisions, but they all are, or have the potential to be, great students.