From the District Training:
Teachers are the Prize

During World War II in Germany, a father told his young daughter to put on her ski boots and wear them every day.

It made no sense to her.

It was June, hot, and ski boots would be uncomfortable.
But she didn’t question him. 

As she later put it, back in those days you listened to your papa.

So she wore them. 

Days later, she was snatched from her home and sent to a concentration camp—wearing her ski boots. 

Summer quickly turned to fall and fall into a brutal winter. This cycle repeated itself for years until she was liberated at the end of the war. 

In a post-war interview, when she was nearly eighty years old she credited those boots, and therefore by extension her father, with helping to save her life. 

Extreme violence is very predictable.
And anything that is predictable can be prevented. 

Those who are planning and preparing violence give off indicators—clues—of what they’re thinking about doing. 

You see it in behavior, comments, obsessions, withdrawal, habits, changes in routine. 

You see it in students who become focused on revenge because they’ve been hurt, isolated, or treated poorly (real or perceived). 

You see it in the way they talk about violence and defend those who have used violence to get what they want. 

But only if you know what to look for…and you’re looking. 

To this day, the woman doesn’t know what her father saw, but clearly he knew what to look for…and he was looking. Because of that, he was able to act while there was still time.

And it may seem like a small detail—wear your ski boots—but the smallest course corrections are often the difference between life and death.

In schools, teachers and staff are the second largest group of people in the building. They spend the most time with the students. This gives them the greatest chance of spotting danger…but only if they know what to look for.

Most teachers would do anything to protect their students, so the problem is not their willingness. It is their ability.

If they are never shown the clues of a student planning and preparing for extreme violence, those signs will blend in with all the normal noise of school life instead of standing out as a warning.

Here’s a simple framework you can follow:

In preventing violence, some things are out of your control.
But not how prepared your people are. That’s totally in your control.

And it doesn’t take a lot.

Teachers and staff members are smart, dedicated people.
They pick it up quickly if you make it easy for them to help.

There’s a myth that teachers hate school safety.
Nothing could be further from the truth.

They just hate how school safety is presented.

Too often it’s cold, emotionless, and doesn’t jive with who they are as teachers.

A long list of bullets in a PowerPoint detailing safety policies and procedures isn’t the best way to reach them. They’re not safety experts—don’t want to be safety experts—and will never be safety experts.

They’re teachers…and every teacher wants their school to be safer.

Lean into that truth. Try to make it fun. Give clear, simple examples that tell a story, make them feel proud, and remind them why they are teachers. They need clear-cut guidance that they can do…like put on your ski boots.

Above all, don’t see preparing your people as a hassle, but as an act of love.

That father loved his daughter. He was thinking only of his daughter. Yes, wearing ski boots in June made it hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable for her…but that little bit of preparation helped to save her life.

Do the same for your school and those you love and lead.

Make sure they’re ready.
Make sure they’re wearing their ski boots.