On behalf of all the parents of Homestake Peak School, I want to take this opportunity to thank the HPS staff, students and first responders on their amazing job handling the bomb scare that occurred at the school last Friday. First the staff: Talk about an amazing group of people who put aside their own issues with what was going on and completely focused on the task at hand. They were flexible and accommodating. They were professional and proficient at everything that was thrown at them. The school counselors seemed to move at warp-like speed to address the needs of the most affected students. Moreover, no matter what task the staff was doing there was a real sense of unity amongst them to help the kids and do what was best for them.
And speaking of the kids — what an amazing group we have at HPS. These kids listened and responded to everything we threw at them. Just a few highlights: As the kids were entering theEagle-Vail Pavilion, there was a shout from the back that “little guys” were in the crowd. As if by magic the big kids in the front of the line parted to let the smaller students get into the building and then they started high-fiving them as they entered the building. Hats off to those older kids for being awesome leaders of their school. I saw two girls headed out of the building and asked what they were up to. One of the girls said she needed to go to counseling and that her teacher said she could go. The other girl told me, with gusto I might add, that she was worried about her friend and wanted to go with her to make sure she was OK. Nice to know that true friendship is alive and well. A huge shout out to the sixth-grade class whose students had to abandon their lunches as the evacuation occurred during their lunch break. And the best student award goes to the preschooler who basically slept through the entire thing as the evacuation occurred right before their nap time.
The firefighters did an amazing job letting us know information as we needed it. They were cool, calm and collected. They knew what they were doing and acted with efficiency. Deputy Megan, the official sheriff deputy in charge of the school, ran the show. Talk about grace under pressure for both her and her team. They were organized, calm and commanding. The paramedics were kind, respectful and calming. They took the concerns of the students seriously.
At HPS they have a program called SOAR which stands for Safety, Organization, (positive) Attitude and Respect. If a student demonstrates one of these traits they get a ticket — collect enough tickets and you can trade them in for a prize. As far as I am concerned, everyone involved in the events on Friday not only gets a SOAR ticket but a SOAR cape as you all were superheroes!
Shaun Histed
Eagle-Vail
