Lompoc High School junior Karla Paniagua was leaving the restroom and making her way back to class when it happened: An administrator’s voice came over the intercom and announced that her school was going into a lockdown.
It was not a drill.
She knew she needed to get back to her classroom immediately, before her teacher locked the door and was required to keep it that way until the lockdown was over. As she sprinted down the hallway toward her class, she heard door after door slam shut and lock.
When she made it to her classroom, the door was closed. She knocked several times. No answer. She started to panic. She didn’t recall practicing what to do in this situation during Lompoc High’s various drills.
Finally after more frantic knocks, the door opened and she slipped into her classroom.
“And I thought maybe if I was better prepared, that wouldn’t have happened.” Paniagua said.
She laughed at her own poor luck as she told the story in the Lompoc City Hall Council Chambers on Feb. 8, just after winning first place and $250 at Lompoc’s second annual Speech Trek.
So although she has limited public speaking experience, Paniagua said she knew she had to participate when she saw the Speech Trek’s topic this year: “How can we eliminate violence aimed at our schools?”
In her speech, Paniagua focused on school shootings and simple ways in which all stakeholders—students, teachers, parents, school administrators and staff, and community organizations—can better help prevent gun violence in local schools.
Unlike her peers, Paniagua’s speech hinged on the lack of preparedness in local schools. Lockdown drills should be taken more seriously by both students and teachers, she said in her speech, and everyone should have increased opportunities to actually practice active shooter situations.
“To make these drills more effective, I suggest teachers do a demonstration of what to actually do during the lockdown, instead of verbally stating an unclear plan,” she said during her speech. “Preparation is important because fear can stop you from logically thinking.”
Eight high school students competed in this year’s Speech Trek, the second hosted by the Lompoc-Vandenberg branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Paniagua will go on to compete at the state level, and three finalists from across California will then be chosen to speak at the AAUW’s statewide convention in San Diego this spring, according to Pamela Buchanan, a local AAUW member.
The Speech Trek committee chose this year’s topic after last year’s AAUW convention, Buchanan said, and the participants were clearly passionate about the subject.
Lompoc High School student Erin McCallon, a senior who took second place in the competition, said schools should do more about the everyday violence that occurs on campus, including bullying and sexual assault. If students feel like their smaller complaints will actually be addressed, she said, they’d likely feel more comfortable going to teachers with other serious issues, like their own dark thoughts or information about other troubled students.
“We cannot continue to let the schools of America be battlefields instead of institutions of public education where kids can feel safe and learn every single day,” she said in her speech. “These kids can’t be hiding any longer. How am I supposed to sit down in class when I’m scared of other people coming to hurt me? I can’t.” μ
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash writes School Scene each week. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at mail@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 14-21, 2019.