My First 911 Call

This isn’t a “Just a Sub” story, but there are many aspects to subbing. I want to make sure they’re all represented here.

Shortly after the incident described below occurred, I was subbing in a local high school. It was in a computer science class so my day was mostly incredibly boring ­­­. When there’s a computer screen in front of them, they focus on nothing else. (Add headphones and you’ll never know they’re there.)

So to mix up my day a little bit, I went to stand by the door to greet students as they came in.

The usual crowd of students formed in the hall. During this particular class change two circles of students formed next to each other. Before they finished their conversation, the tardy bell rang.

Panic ensued. Two students, a boy and a girl, had been standing very close together with their backs to each other, participating in the conversations of the two separate circles. At the sound of the bell, they both spun around and started running in opposite directions at exactly the same time.

For a second, it was something out of a cartoon. There was a loud thud and then they were both on the floor. The boy had caught himself and was apologizing profusely. The girl… 

The girl hadn’t caught herself.  She was on the floor, not moving. The boy’s face registered this about the same time as mine did. I glanced at the teacher across the hall. He started for the emergency call button. I started toward the girl on the floor. I cleared the remaining students away.

She was breathing but she wouldn’t respond. The few students lingering in the hall didn’t know her name.  A moment later the nurse came around the corner speaking into a wireless phone. She pointed me back to the computer class and mouthed “Thank you. I got it.”

I went back to the computer lab. They hadn’t even noticed I was gone.

I peeked out the door a few times during that class. Once I saw two paramedics helping the girl sit up slowly, the nurse standing nearby with a wheelchair. The next time, the hall was empty.

Thankfully, I was told later she was okay.

So in light of the stories Jonnie and I will undoubtedly post later, don’t get the wrong idea about subbing. It isn’t all bad.  Sometimes you can go home feeling like you did some good, even you aren’t quite sure what it was.

Happy Easter, Kelli 1 Peter 1:3-4