At around 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday, the tornado sirens could be heard blaring outside in the storming rain. During this time, schools were still in session. Immediately, administrators and teachers led confused students to their designated shelter areas and waited there until given further instructions. Students were interviewed on their thoughts on the disrupted class or lunch time.
Levi Johnson, a sophomore, was at lunch at the time that the tornado sirens were set off. He was hurriedly directed towards the auditorium, and because of the sudden interruption, didn’t have time to bring his lunch with him.
“I wish I could’ve finished my lunch, but it’s fine because I have candy in my backpack,” he said. Johnson also said that if he had known that administration allowed students to finish their food in the auditorium, he would have been “happily munching away as the sirens rang.”
Luckily for Johnson, as well as other students who were at lunch, they were able to bring their food into their third block classrooms and could finish their lunch there.
Some students say they were delighted when they heard the tornado sirens go off. Mason Wine, a junior, called it a “blessing in disguise,” happy that he was taken out of his physics class to take shelter in room 114. Katie Justesen, a sophomore, said that it was a weird transition from class to shelter, but she was happy that she could spend some time with her friends that were in the same shelter room as she was.
“I was scared when I heard the sirens go off, but it all went away when I saw my friends there,” Justesen said.
Once teachers and administrators were given the sign that it was safe to exit the shelter rooms, all students went back to their normal routines in their classrooms. Third block was extended to 2 p.m. so that lessons could be finished and school ended at the usual time of 3:15 p.m.
