Every Day is An Adventure

This week I want to give a shout out to the Hudson Fire Department, Gordy Clarke, and Jeff Dieken for their hard work and putting in all the extra hours yesterday during our accident. For those of you that are wondering exactly how we ended up with a two hour late start, here is a brief synopsis of the days events. 

At approximately 3:30 a.m., the sprinkler system in the Art Room was activated. When this alarm goes off, it automatically triggers a call to the fire department. Upon arriving on the scene, it was discovered that the lid to the kiln was left open. This allowed heat to escape, increasing the temperature of the room. Once the temperature exceeded 155 degree, it triggered the sprinklers and alarm. As a result, we experienced approximately 2 inches of flooding in the art room, the west hallway was impacted, along with Mr. Puls room, and Mrs. Maves room. 

When Mr. Dieken and I arrived on scene it was apparent that we would not be able to start classes on time and I made the decision to call for a two hour delay, keeping my options open and assuming that we would not be able to hold classes that day at all. (Another hats off to Steamatic Cleaning who was on the scene by 6:00 a.m., and had made significant progress by 8:00 a.m.)

At this point, the art room and Mrs. Maves room continue to be out of commission and we anticipate those spaces to be impacted for several more days. 

We have to recognize this for what it was; an accident. Luckily no one was hurt and in the whole scope of things, the damage is pretty minor. We will end up with a cleaning bill, a few repairs to the art room, new carpet in one of the classrooms, and maybe a replacement kiln. The upside here is that the sprinkler system performed exactly as it should have. I shudder at the thought of what may have happened had the sprinkler system not performed. Perhaps that is the best news of all?

In closing, I want you to remember my comments last week in regard to October being National Principals Month:

There is no typical day, and perhaps that is part of the allure. One never knows from one day to the next what challenges will be faced. A quiet day in the office completing paperwork can be blown up within the first couple minutes of the day starting.

Or in this case, several hours before the start of the day!