Over the past few months, a group of students from Ms. Georgina Bingaman’s fourth year Engineering Design and Development class have been working to help improve school safety. Through their teacher, these students, led by seniors Denver Elliott and Alex Cunningham, researched entry points, equipment, and the basis of Woodgrove’s safety measures. Now, they are looking to expand upon their ideas for not only Woodgrove, but for all of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to use.
LCPS currently has one phrase that their school safety measures revolve around: “See something, say something.” While this phrase might seem insignificant to some, it can have an everlasting impact on a school and its safety. This is because any forewarnings can be a powerful tool to prevent catastrophes. John Clark, the current Director of Safety and Security at LCPS, stated, “As students, you all know what is going on in your schools. We need you to report any concerning information. While something may seem insignificant to you, when reported and pieced together with other information, it may save lives. In addition, when you hear about a potential threat, do not repost or forward. Instead, report the information to a staff member and your parents or through Safe2Talk.”
While the Woodgrove students have been looking into researching school safety for many months, they did not start this project until the beginning of September, the day after the Apalachee High School shooting. The tragedy hit especially close to the heart for Cunningham, as his brother was attending Apalachee High School on that fateful day. “They were in school for around an hour before the shooter left the classroom. When the shooter came back to the classroom the door was locked, so he moved one classroom over. The shooter opened fire in the classroom and ended up shooting one of his friends, Rico. Then, while my brother was trying to protect some people in his class and hide, the shooter killed another one of his friends, Christian. The math teacher who was right across the hall tried to help but ended up getting killed as well. The shooter ended up surrendering, and the school was evacuated to the football field,” stated Cunningham. The fallout from the shooting not only affected Cunningham but made the whole group want to improve school safety for the better.
In order to come up with a plan or goal, they had to first research. They began to research security camera blind spots, the most frequently used doors, and other items such as metal detector wands, pull out shelters, and walkie talkies. “Our main ideas are keeping all doors locked, getting our students to get more involved in their own school safety, and researching and taking ideas to the school board with possible beneficial ideas or items,” stated Elliott.
They plan to execute these ideas through various projects, such as a presentation sharing items that will improve school safety. They want to present these ideas to the school board, the Director of Security and eventually the superintendent. Another project aims at getting more people involved by informing fellow students about current issues and polling their ideas on the topic.
On the whole, these students, along with Ms. Bingaman, plan to make this a recurring project at Woodgrove High School. With school safety being a growing issue, students need to be more aware of open doors, not letting strangers in the building, and following the “see something, say something” motto. These actions will help to keep Woodgrove a safe place.