Resilience and Strength

Audrey Hirschman ’23 Co-Editor in Chief

Jessenia Olascuaga ’23 Staff Writer

On the morning of February 7, all of Nouvel Catholic Central’s student body and faculty was ready for a normal winter school day. At 10:07 A.M., Mrs. Sova came on the loudspeaker, and announced an immediate lockdown. As part of routine, students shut the window blinds, locked the doors, and barricaded the doors. Most assumed that the lockdown was a drill, but many things were in question as time went on. Some students started hearing sirens, sending them into a panic. No one knew what to believe, as there were many rumors going around on social media. After an anxious hour and twenty minutes, the local police announced that they were clearing all of the classrooms and dismissing everyone down to the gym. In the process of the police clearing out rooms, doors were broken based on how well the barricades were built.

When everyone got down to the gym, we were notified that there was a person, not affiliated with NCCHS, that called the police reporting an active shooter in the building. This call was deemed a hoax. There were 70 cops at the school at one point looking for the “shooter.” There were also several calls made to the police that day reporting a similar situation around the state, “two students shot in room 104.” With police only knowing about the call and not many details, they treated the situation like it was real. The police and first responders quickly came to the school and had to make a forced entry through the gym doors. Police and FBI teams are still researching and investigating the call, along with the other calls in the state. As far as improvements go, we want to improve several things in lockdown procedures. This includes: better communication throughout the school and better procedures to get students to their parents if needed.

We’d like to thank the police department and first responders, and applaud them for putting us first. We would also like to thank the students and staff for their patience, and coming all together in a traumatic, sad time. If any student or staff member needs to talk about the situation, there are plenty of mental health resources within and outside of the school. We join each other in prayer and pray for the students at Michigan State University for the events that happened on February 13. If anyone has any questions/concerns about the situation, please contact Dan Decuf at ddecuf@nouvelcatholic.org

https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/mental-health-resources/