We Stand with Uvalde
Education. The last great equalizer. Schools across our nation are preparing for the end of the school year. Administrators, teachers, and students alike are looking forward to their summers and exploring various parts of their towns and cities or attending summer camps as available. Some are headed off to vacations while others are visiting relatives. Whatever the plans are for the majority of our nation, those in Uvalde, Texas will have a summer like they have never experienced before. On the heels of Robb Elementary School's award ceremony on Sunday, May 22nd, the student body was turned upside down. A lone gunman entered the school on Tuesday, May 24th, and proceeded to brutally injure several and murder 19 children and 2 teachers before being killed by the police. This is a principal's worst nightmare. This is a parent's worst nightmare. This is our nation's recurring and inevitable truth: Gun violence is real and WE MUST BE MORE PROACTIVE ABOUT FIXING IT.
As a former Spanish teacher and K-12 School Principal, we prepared for various school and environmental issues including tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, and yes-active shooters. During my 12-year stint in my last school district, the rules changed on how to deal with active shooters. I remember having conversations with kids around how we used to "hide and barricade" but now we must "duck and run". Either strategy is NOT something we should actually be responsible for teaching but the sad reality is that if we don't teach it, our kids would not know how to prepare for such a tragedy as Sandy Hook Elementary, Majory Stoneman Douglas, and now Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. PAUSE. Ask yourself this: Can you really prepare for something like this? The answer is a resounding NO.
You can't prepare for this.
You can PREVENT this.
WE can prevent this.
Sensible gun safety laws have already been proposed in state legislatures across the nation. Urge your state legislatures to pass them. Urge your leaders to pass measures to require the appropriate background checks for those seeking gun purchases. There are a host of additional policies and legislation around gun safety and violence prevention that we should implement based on research, best practices, and expert recommendations.
Join the New North Carolina Project as we partner with other groups to advocate for gun safety and reform so we don't have to continue enduring tragedies similar to this week. Let's do right by our kids in schools. Let's not stand by while parents anxiously send their kids to schools praying and hoping they come home again. Let's do our part to contact our leaders and DEMAND a different outcome. We stand with Uvalde.
Dr. Aimy Steele
Former Spanish Teacher
Former K-12 School Principal
Call Senator Thom Tillis: 202-224-6342
Call Senator Richard Burr: 202-224-3154
Sample Script:
Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME HERE]. I am calling you to urge support for gun reform like universal background checks, requiring mandatory training before receiving a permit to carry, and requiring safe and secure storage, because it represents important steps toward making us all safer by reducing gun violence and senseless deaths. 90% of Americans, even those who are gun owners, support universal background checks. It is far past time for us to make sure gun owners will be responsible gun owners. This issue is vitally important to me. I live in your district, and I have the power to fire you with my vote.
