By Matthew Jacoby
Today at the start of fourth period a fire drill was held, and the results led to Principal Hirsch calling on students and staff to “do better” in an announcement following the drill.
This year, Mr. Hirsch has started pushing for completely silent fire drills, meaning students need to silently walk out to the designated spots and wait silently for instructions from staff. Silent fire drills are meant to eliminate confusion and to allow for easier communication between teachers and students.
Mr. Hirsch was disappointed by today’s performance after what was a successful first fire drill last week.
Mr. Hirsch said, “During fire drills, it’s crucial to be quiet. This way, if there’s a real emergency, we can all hear instructions clearly.” Additionally, practicing silent fire drills could help to keep all students accounted for and safe during an actual fire.
However, students who were in classrooms on the first and second floors reportedly found it difficult to hear the fire alarms going off. One student’s class only found out about the fire drill after a student came back from the bathroom and told them that the fire alarm was going off in the cafeteria.
The administration is aware of the issue with the alarms and is working with the company responsible for the alarm system to remedy the situation quickly.
Mr. Hirsch said, “Always do what the adults tell you during a fire drill. They’re there to keep you safe, and their directions are important. If you have an issue with the direction, during the drill is not the time to voice it. To the best of your ability, follow the instructions and then we can process what happened later.”
New York state requires 12 fire drills in total and eight of them before December so that students are prepared in case of an emergency.
