WOODBURY — Nonnewaug High School participated in its second annual emergency evacuation drill Oct. 9 to the Woodbury Public Works Department.
Last school year, NHS learned the route to public works for emergency evacuations such as a gas leak or bomb threat.
Principal Mykal Kuslis explained why practicing the evacuation route is necessary.
“The state of Connecticut requires all schools to have emergency evacuation drills throughout the year,” Kuslis said. “The state law averages one fire drill per month of the school year, along with requiring one special drill per quarter [lockdown drills, evacuation routes, etc.].”
Region 14 selected the Woodbury Public Works Department for the ending destination in the drill.
“Unfortunately where we are located, there is not somewhere to house all of our students,” Kuslis explains. “The minimum safe distance from a school for gas leak is 300 feet, for a bomb threat it is 500 feet; we just say 500 feet for both.”
The public works building fits both the housing requirements, along with distance away.
“The barns at public works can house the entire school population while being out of the distance,” says Kuslis.
Last year, when the drill was practiced for the first time, the region opted to use buses to show the route to the students and staff. This year, people walked the route.
“This year we walked to be as close to the real thing as we can,” Kuslis explains. “The buses would not come in time in a real evacuation, so we practiced it to see how long it really would take.”
Many students did not mind the walk at all. Maria Eggers, a senior at NHS, explains her experience.
“I felt like walking was fine. It makes more sense because it is what we would use in a real-world situation,” Eggers says. “The walk was not that bad. “I think it went really well, especially since we have never practiced the walk before.”
Before the evacuation drill, there was a fire drill. Students and staff walked out to their designated areas and had a quick refresher of a fire drill.
Leeza Desjardins, the art teacher at NHS, felt that the drill went very smoothly except for a small hiccup at the start.
“I think we were not given enough time at the very beginning to take attendance and get the necessary info out for people,” Desjardins says.
The school originally planned for a Chiefs block of 90 minutes. They split the fire drill and evacuation drill in half of the advisory time, but in reality it only lasted for half the period.
Junior Mia Layseca, believes that next time the drill is practiced, the time should be cut down instead of 90 minutes.
“I think that the drill cut heavily into classes and threw many classes off course,” Layseca explains.
Desjardins also feels that the time could be shorter next time.
“When classes are 20 minutes long, there is not much to do,” Desjardins says. “For example, you can’t do a lot in a ceramics class.”
At the end of the drill, both staff and students felt better that they had the information on where to go in case of an emergency.
“It’s definitely good to practice safety,” Eggers explains. “A lot of people have anxiety about it [emergency situations], so it’s good to ease their worries now that they have a designated place to go.”
