Cascade School District News

Children go to school to learn in a safe environment how to solve long division problems and “i before e except after c,” but now getting detention is not the scariest threat in the hallways. 

The flags go half mast, “thoughts and prayers” are tweeted by our politcians’ social media interns and we as a country mourn in the form of twisting tragedy into a chance to argue our stance on that little fine print, the second amendment. 

It’s an unthinkable fact that we can all acknowledge that mass shootings have become a disturbing epidemic. The Cascade School District pulled parents, students, the community and teachers together to prepare for the worst in their Lethal Threat Crisis Training on Wednesday, September 12 at the Cascade High School auditorium.  

“Lethal threats in schools are many times life and death situations. They effect everyone,” said Bill Motsenbocker, Cascade School District superintendent. “Knowing how to respond is critical.”

The new school buildings and security systems prompted an opportunity to educate the community and students. 

Three different assemblies  on the topic of lethal crisis and active shooters were led by Jesus Villahermosa, a former SWAT team leader and law enforcement officer from Pierce County, who is a nationally recognized expert in school and campus safety.  

“Our practices are all fairly generic and may not cover all circumstances. I worked with this trainer while at Pullman School District and he is excellent,” said Motsenbocker. “Following the training, the building principals will spend two hours with the trainer to update our policies and procedures.” 

During the assemblies, stories of crisis situations were shared along with discussing what works and what doesn’t in these situations. It was a way to blanket over both students and staff in one large setting on how to respond in worst case scenarios.

“Your school district is being a forward thinking school district,” Villahermosa said.

Villahermosa shared all sorts of tactics such as barricading, the power of voice, hiding and even fighting for one’s life — except he managed to avoid using frightening scare tactics and remained tactful. 

The training was orchestrated not to infiltrate fear in the students or parents, but as a cautionary practice to ensure the best lengths of safety for the children. 

“Physical and emotional safety are our district’s number one priority,” said Motsenbocker. “Students cannot learn without feeling safe and secure.”

Despite the serious and, at times, dark topic, Villahermosa evoked giggles from students and staff alike. He kept the audience engaged by interaction — whether it be simply asking questions that were instantly responded to by eager hands shooting up in the air or by having a teacher run and hide while he counted down to demonstrate how to quietly mask themselves from a bad guy. 

At one point, Villahermosa prompted the audience to be as quiet as possible and the entire room froze. One student audibly let out a exhale when he signaled they could make noise again. 

He engaged the audience within the presentation, which kept everyone from nodding off; but instead, nodding along with his probing questions to the crowd.  He repeated key points to ensure that the wide eyed gazes staring back at him weren’t just enjoying the show and time out of class, but taking in the safety lesson.

“If you’re not near the bad guy, lock down. If you are near the bad guy, run. Do you understand?” Villahermosa said. 

For such a heavy subject, Villahermosa managed to toe the fine line between emphasizing the seriousness of the safety lessons and maintaining a light atmosphere for young students. 

Both entertaining and informative, the audience seemed entranced as the energetic man bounded around such as when he demonstrated how to run like Phoebe from Friends if being shot at. But he also made sure to capitalize on his captivated audience by crafting important messages for the students, staff and community to use in case of disaster. 

“I put my life at risk a lot of times in my career; but did you know, I’m not a hero? If you guys report there’s actually a threat to the school, did you know you’re more of a hero than I ever was because you’re actually stopping the violence before it occurs? I always reacted to the violence,” said Villahermosa. “So the power of your voice — if there’s anything I leave you with today  — it’s that your voice is critical in solving this issue today in America.”

The presentation was well received and the audience left well informed. 

It has become an unfortunate circumstance that anywhere there is a large crowd with limited exit options can  become a hunting ground for unstable monsters. And, it’s unfortunate that it is now a necessary evil to be prepared in case of a shooting. 

Cascade School District exemplified the importance of being proactive and the Lethal Threat Crisis assemblies intervened beforehand rather than suffering consequences after the fact.  

“Be brave, be forward thinking because your school district is,” said Villahermosa.