Make a difference in education. Newly appointed assistant principals are expected to assume the role of safety often. Yes, safety is what I said. The first thought that comes to mind is, what training do they have? In my case what training do I have. Nevertheless, it is role that must be completed and most have crash courses also known as you must figure it out quickly. I cannot recall any formal educational training that would prepare anyone for such a role who is in education.
Shortly after accepting the position I began updating the safety manual and made necessary connections with staff and local stakeholders to ensure everything flowed smoothly. Being that I was in a school with knee huggers, kindergarteners. Take a moment and imagine them completing their first drill. Have you every seen a heard of cats? Probably not because it does not exist, but if you can imagine a hundred plus kindergarten students running lose then I think you may have the picture. In this scenario you have the one student crying, the one student that must use the restroom, and do not forget the statue who refuses to move while the rest run in circles with excitement. The ever so calm teacher standing stoically redirecting the behavior. Do you remember Kindergarten Cop? If you do then that is a close resemblance for those not properly prepared. You may ask what teacher would not prepare them. Well, you quickly learn when you have drills there are a lot of subs on campus, and that in itself is a dissertation. My job was to ensure everyone’s safety especially these kindergarten students.
As a great administrator I dove into the safety manual as if I were an expert with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. My keen eye quickly alerted me to the codes yellow, red, green, etc. Its like a bad hospital show when all they do is yell a code. Then I thought how in the world was I suppose to remember all of this? I can teach a child to read, but running a triage is another bird of a different feather. As my luck would have it, one day while digging my way out of bus referrals I hear over the radio “code brown”. I stop and try to remember what code brown is. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing at all. I run into the hall and everyone is working as normal. I hear it again, “code brown”. I peek into the hallway confidently, because I am supposed to be the expert of the codes and no one moves. So, I scramble to find the safety manual, and sure enough no code browns. I feel relief, but then confusion sets in. I venture out and spoke to the counselor. Well, she explained code brown. Code brown happens often in kindergarten. Code brown is most often boys who use the urinals as a traditional toilet. Yes, they have sat down on a urinal and did number two, code brown. If you are not familiar with urinals, they don’t flush solids but only liquids, so a person is required to come and remove the code brown.
So, if you’re ever in an elementary school and hear code brown, you do not have to run. However, you may want to avoid the restroom because code brown has occurred. Make a difference in education.
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