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Centralia R-VI staff undergoes intruder drills, training

Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 6:18 am

‘Yes, it can be inconvenient … But it is safe.’

Teachers and administrators underwent intruder safety training with members of the Boone County Sheriff’s and Centralia Police Departments the morning of January 2.

As 140 members of the Centralia R-VI faculty and administration listened Boone County Sheriff Deputies Eli Burkholder and Craig James, presented a four-hour program on how to keep R-VI students safe.

R-VI staff practice restraining an intruder.

R-VI staff practice restraining an intruder.

Having a plan and being ready and willing to act on it was part of their presentation, another was giving the audience the tools and encouragement to improvise.

One example centered on self-defense, individual and group.

“Think about a can of green beans,” Burkhart said. “If a shooter, or any type of hostile intruder breaks into your classroom, I think 24 cans of green beans flying at his head will break his concentration,” Burkholder said. “And at the end of the school year you can donate the cans to a local food pantry or food-drive,” Craig added.

Teachers rushing to block a door

Burkholder continued, “if the intruder is continuing to shoot, he is continuing to kill or maim. Anything to break his concentration is better than no response.”

An important concept he shared was neutralizing an intruder before it came to that.

For the complete article see this week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard