Threats in Maine By: Jay Brobst February 16th, 2018
It’s been a tense week for schools all around Maine as last night marked the fourth school shooting threat at a Maine school in four days. The first two happened in Augusta and Caribou on Tuesday and were dealt with swiftly, students being released to their parents that same day, but after Florida's school shooting (see story below) Thursday’s threat at South Portland was a bigger deal. The student in question was a freshman and after posting his threat on Snapchat the previous evening, extra police officers were sent to the school as well as two National Guardsmen to help keep the students safe. All students returned to wherever they call home safely in time for the next threat. Thursday night, a Mt. Ararat student posted threats of violence on their Snapchat. Once again, extra police were called to keep Maine’s high schoolers safe.
Top: An Image of South Portland High.
A look back at the storms of 2017 Written By: Kim Clifford February 2nd, 2018
Imagine, you’re over at a friends house. Your friend’s mom, Carla, calls you and your friend down for dinner. You all know about the impending storm, you know how bad it’s supposed to be. As you change the channel to the News, you see that the storm will be hitting by morning. When you wake up the next day you see that your street has already been soaked. Trees are fallen everywhere. As you walk down the steps the next morning your best friends first floor is water, just water. Whether you can empathize with the people of Houston, florida, or Puerto Rico you can inevitably have heard about the virulent natural disasters that have made landfall in these areas of U.S. governing. In order to fully understand how they are feeling, you must first be erudited with the challenges they are facing. As educators we must know the best way to empathize with those around us, as well as how the role of empathy impacts our understanding of the three hurricanes that have hit the U.S. in the last month. In similar fashions, all three storms brought along challenges both during and after the storm. Due to Hurricane Harvey, for example, “more than 160 public school districts and 30 charter schools in Texas have been closed”. While the news focuses on the deadly floods and rapid currents, they neglect to factor in the effects Harvey had on the youth. Thousands of students first days of school were delayed and even more have no materials to work with. In Florida, CNN’s Eric Levenson reports Irmas “deadly storm surge” flooded the streets and made mobility limited and dangerous. As of September 13th, at least 72 people were dead. Puerto Rico is without power indefinitely. In summarization, the after effects of Harvey, Irma and Maria were cataclysmic at best. Empathy, as it relates to problem solving, is a stimulating concept. The best way to empathize with someone is to not look at the situation directly, but rather the feelings that stem from the predicament. While most of us have not experienced this type of cataclysm, most can understand the feeling of despair and hopelessness. Whether it’s the fear of disappointing parental units, or a family member being sick and bedridden. Things we wish to change but have no control over, such as a hurricane, must be dealt with the support of friends and family. Rather than focusing solely on the large scale issues, we most focus on similar situations sequentially. On August 29th Trump made his first of two visits to Texas. “There, he met with local, state and federal officials in Austin and Corpus Christi.” Trump made multiple visits to Texas the week of the 27th of August, as well as a visit to the state of Florida on September 14th. As of September 27th he has yet to visit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. While Harvey and Irma’s damage was more widespread, that should not take away the importance or cataclysmic scale of the damage done by Maria. Governmental personnel have less empathy for those affected by Maria. Consequently, less supplies and rescue efforts have been sent. In the aftermath of the massacre in Vegas, it is evident that this country is struggling with ways to prevent man made cataclysms as well as deal with the aftereffects of natural disasters. In finalization, while empathy is not the way to rescue citizens or fix the devastation of these tropical storms, it can motivate others to help.