The School Ledge Incident

The School Ledge Incident

The School Ledge Incident

By Joseph Parish

As a small child, I seem to have developed a knack of attracting trouble, even though I did not actively seek it out. One example of this, was at R.D. Wood elementary school, when I was in the lower grades. The teacher instructed all of us students that in the untimely event that we could not get out of the classroom during a fire, that our alternate means of escape should be to resort to the window. This was all well, since I was essentially a bright student, I could easily figure that out. One day our school had a fire drill, and the children were instructed to quickly depart the classroom. At the time the teachers would lock the doors as the last child had departed. I suppose this procedure was to let the firefighters know that the room was vacant and had no children in it.

Now, I was in no way born into a wealthy family, so I immediately rushed into the coat room to retrieve my jacket. I honestly did not want to listen to my parents complaining about how I allowed my only jacket to burn up in the blazing fire. When I emerged from the coat room, I discovered that the classroom door would not open, It was locked, resulting in me being stuck in the classroom. As I shifted my glance through the door window, one of my classmates was unrestrainedly laughing and waving his hand at me. The ignorant child could not even inform the teacher that I was locked within the confines of the classroom. With no recourse at my disposal, except the window, I climbed up onto the ledge of the open casement and stood in total silence.

About this time, the teacher followed by my classmates had arrived at the front of the school. Outside, the class was preparing to cross the street to the safety zone, as was the normally accepted procedure. As they were crossing the street one of the students notified the teacher that I was standing on the window ledge. That teacher must have just about fainted when she witnessed such a small child standing in such a dangerous position. She began to shout wildly as she watched in horror towards me standing there. She jumped up and down and frantically waved her arms in assorted directions, as if that could correct the situation. Finally, they rescued me from the ledge, and proceeded to call my father into the school to discuss the issue. When he got there, he received a long briefing on what I had done, after which, he asked me my version of it. What my father did next instilled within me an undying admiration and respect for him. He asked the principal what their instructions were in the event of a locked door, and essentially, he ended up taking my side in the issue. I believe that I hold the record for being the youngest child ever suspended from school. Unfortunately, this school on Archer Street in Millville is no longer operational.

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