Tilden Middle School students and staff were put into a 'Shelter in place' on Friday at noon to protect everyone from the severe weather and tornado threat. Here is our timeline & Tilden's reaction to this story.
12:06 pm: The Annoucement
Principal Ms. LaGrange announced that students would transition to a 'Shelter in Place', due to a tornado warning being issued by the National Weather Service.
All students & teachers were moved to a safe place. 6th & 8th graders were currently in class, and 7th graders were eating lunch at the cafeteria.
12:11 pm: "Not a joke. Not a drill."
Students, for the most part, calmly moved to a protected area, while teachers and staff were informed of their duties.
Ms. LaGrange and other teachers sincerely expressed, "We are taking this [threat] very seriously. This is not a joke. Not a drill."
12:30 pm: Students were Worried, Bored, Nervous, and even Drowsy.
Each student had their own reactions. Many were worried and scared. Several students were actually trying to nap, because what else was there to do?
Students were told by teachers to leave their lunches and anything they had with them. However, the majority of students still had their cell phones or smartwatches with them.
Some students used their devices to message their parents or friends that they are doing okay and/or check the weather radar.
At that time, Mr. Greene told students that new updates from the National Weather Service and MCPS would come in a few minutes, and he encouraged students to stay quiet.
12:56 pm: "We beat the storm!"
After the storms moved through the Montgomery County area and went towards Baltimore, Tilden finally ended the shelter in place, which was almost an hour long.
Students cheered when the teachers announced that the students will transition back. 7th graders would head back to the cafeteria, and 6th & 8th graders would go back to the classroom.
Students & Teachers' Reaction.
Tilden security officer, Mr. Greene, remarked in an interview that students and teachers did an excellent job. "We beat the storm, as a team". A Tilden 7th grader, Anthony Lam, told us, "It was a very interesting experience. Very glad everyone is doing okay."
Tilden Middle School's principal Ms. LaGrange came on the speaker system at the end of the to provide "feedback" on the event. "I want to end this Friday by letting you know how incredibly proud I am, for all of our scholars and commence you Timeberwolfs, you did a phenomenal job today. You are just amazing. Thank you for your patience, thank you for listening, thank you for following all the distance. I know it was hot and uncomfortable but you did a phenomenal job. Thank you, staff, thank you so much for being supportive as always to make sure kids are safe. I wish all of you have a lovely, lovely three-day weekend and I am looking forward to seeing you again. Thank you!"
Information About the Storm ☂
The storm system that moved us through did not actually summon a tornado. In fact, Tilden was technically never under a Tornado Warning, it was issued for an area just west of here. Other than mild rotation, the main threats with this one were winds gusts peaking at 20-30 mph and some heavy rain.
Where is Safest Place During Severe Weather?
The best possible place you could be is in an interior room with no windows on the lowest floor. Even though it was miserable inside, the locker rooms are the safest place to be, as they are all that was previously stated and even had strong brick walls as a bonus. On the contrary, the worst possible place to be is in a large room with windows (such as the cafeteria or gym) and up high. Outside is also a terrible place to seek refuge (obviously). Seeing how Tilden's and MCPS's storm plan worked was both interesting and mildly concerning. While the hallway around the locker rooms is probably the safest alternative, it's still not as safe as the locker rooms. But what are your thoughts, do you think that Tilden's weather refuge areas are safe enough? Or do you think that Tilden needs to work harder to create more weather refuge areas? Comment your answers.