dVerse Prosery – Retirement Decision

~ Lauren

For today’s dVerse’ Prosery: Write a piece of flash fiction or other prose up of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given line from the poem.

These are the things they don’t tell us.
– Girl Du Jour, from Notes on Uvalde

I hadn’t made my final decision as to whether or not to retire in 2019. I kept an ongoing list of pros and cons. Being who I am, I still went to every staff meeting and every workshop requested. You don’t change who you are after 35 years.

A police officer came to instruct us as to how to respond to an active shooter on campus. We watched videos, learned the protocols, and practiced drills. Depressed by our new reality, we participated attentively.

I had the only classroom on campus with an outside door to a parking lot, not behind a locked gate. I had to keep path to the door free because of the fire department.  I asked the officer, what, if anything I could do to protect my students. He didn’t answer my question.

These are the things they don’t tell us.

Published by Lauren

West Coast Nana to 4 gkids and 1 fur baby

21 thoughts on “dVerse Prosery – Retirement Decision”

  3. Perhaps you didn’t get an answer because there isn’t a good one. Short of turning you into a soldier, I think there’s very little a teacher can do to protect themselves and their students from that threat. I don’t know, but I worry about the effects on the mental health of students who spend their time in school preparing for the worst possible outcome – because we don’t have a better answer.

    I don’t mean to rant on your blog. I spent a week with my brother, also a retired teacher, and we spoke of this issue a lot. I don’t have an answer, but I don’t see too many teachers being invited into the discussion. Thank you for bringing this issue to your blog, Lauren.

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    1. Dan, just practicing the drill with my students stressed them and me out. It was the number one reason on my list of reasons to retire. I have friends who left the career they loved because of this. Rant away, I am greatful for the understanding.

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      1. It is such a messed up system that kids are being taught how to hide and escape from the armed assassins but no one is taking their guns away

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  5. I can’t even imagine this and as an early childhood educator I would retire for this reason also. It is devastating that guns are protected more than children. So many have taken to this topic for prosery this week so I won’t repeat my frustration once again in a comment. Happy Retirement. Stay safe.

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  8. What an interesting dilemma. The most secure facilities I can think of are called prisons. Yet, people are killed there as well.

    The risk can be reduced, but for that people will have to change how they have been voting. Fat chance.

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