Unfiltered Story #32282

(I am a high school sophomore. My Theatre Arts (Drama) teacher is on her second year of teaching, and I have her for both Drama and English. The day this takes place, a fatal shooting had occurred less than 20 miles from my school, and there is a lockdown during Drama, in case the shooter went to the school. It passes like any other lockdown, 20 minutes of boredom followed by an announcement to continue on with our day. Later, in the English class I overhear this:

Student 1: “[teacher], were you scared during that lockdown?”

Teacher: “Yes, i locked the main door, but couldn’t shut the other door (the elevator is connected to the classroom, and during lockdowns it is not allowed to be locked for some dumb reason, making it easy for any potential killers to get in our classroom). I had to pretend to lock it so none of the other students would worry. ”

Student 2: “but what if he had gotten in?” (By this point the whole class is listening)

Teacher: “I sat in a stool in the middle of the room, so I could distract the shooter while the students fled. I hadn’t given much thought to if I would die for my students until then, but in that moment I knew I would in a heartbeat.”

(The rest of the class went back to their buisness, but I was silently crying in the corner, glad she was willing to do that. She was my favorite teacher I have ever had, and that little story cemented it forever.)