Staff writer
Marion Elementary School has monthly fire drills, but the school never had a fire drill that quite matched the circumstances Thursday morning, Principal Rod Garman said.
Students were going through their morning routine before class began: some were eating breakfast, some were playing outdoors, and some were just arriving at school when someone smelled smoke in the school.
Despite never having practiced a fire drill before classes began, students were quick and orderly evacuating the building when the fire alarm was turned on. Students and teachers gathered on the grass west of the school, well away from the building. Staff members directed arriving students away from the building and to the group west of the school.
“I want to tell you how proud I am of you, staff and students,” Garman told the crowd.
A teacher asked what the school would do if there was a fire during a storm. Garman said they would gather the students outdoors and make sure everyone was safe before walking across the street to USD 408 Sports and Aquatic Center.
While waiting to return to school, students in Lana Stevenson’s kindergarten class tucked their arms into their shirts to stay warm in the damp morning air. The school had a fire drill earlier in the year, but nothing to prepare them for a fire that occurred while they were anywhere but their classroom, Stevenson said.
Her students followed older students to the meeting place outside.
“They did great,” she said.
An outdoor electrical outlet, just outside the school counselor’s office, was the source of the smoke, said Mike Regnier, Marion Fire Chief. There were neither injuries nor damage.