Connecticut teachers were heroes in

the face of death

By Ben Brumfield, CNN
(CNN) -- Facing down a gunman, placing yourself in the path of flying bullets, forfeiting your
life to protect innocents. It's a job description fitting for a soldier or police officer, but for a
school teacher -- an elementary school teacher at that
!hat the teachers and principal at "andy #oo$ %lementary "chool did for the children in
their care could win a soldier in a war &one a 'urple #eart.
(ead more) '*his world is a better place because she has been in it'
But the soldier ma$es a conscious choice to face mortal danger when he or she enlists.
"andy #oo$'s heroes did not.
+dam ,an&a did not gi-e them that choice when he opened fire in the hallway and two
classrooms Friday in Newtown, Connecticut.
,ong before it happened, 'rincipal .awn #ochsprung tried to pre-ent a shooting -- or any
other calamity -- by implementing new security measures at "andy #oo$. "he made sure
teachers practiced getting into loc$down mode.
*he front door was loc$ed when the gunman arri-ed. + mother meeting with #ochsprung
about her struggling child was astounded that the gunman had gotten in) /It's a loc$ed
school0 you ha-e to be bu&&ed in,/ she later said.
'rincipal's husband left with future that no longer ma$es sense
,an&a blasted his way in.
#ochsprung heard the loud pop. "he, school psychologist 1ary "herlach and 2ice 'rincipal
Natalie #ammond went to in-estigate.
*hey were acting as the first line of protection and paid hea-ily for it. 3nly #ammond
returned from the hallway ali-e -- but not unscathed.
+long with #ochsprung, 45, and "herlach, 67, four teachers perished.
2ictoria "oto, 85, mo-ed her first-grade students away from the classroom door. *he
gunman burst in and shot her, according to the father of a sur-i-ing student.
(ead more) Comforting sur-i-ors) '#ug them' and 'cry with them'
/"he would not hesitate to thin$ to sa-e anyone else before herself and especially children,/
her mother, .onna "oto, told CNN's 'iers 1organ.
+nne 1arie 1urphy's body was found in a classroom, slumped o-er young children $illed in
the shooting. *he 68-year-old special education teacher was apparently attempting to shield
them, her father told the newspaper Newsday.
+spirations were cut short and potential was wiped out -- of the young children who will no
longer learn and grow toward adulthood, but also of the teachers who died.
(achel .'+-ino, 89, was a beha-ioral therapist who wor$ed with autistic children. .'+-ino's
boyfriend was going to propose to her on Christmas %-e.
,auren (ousseau, :;, had dreamed of being a teacher since before she went to
$indergarten herself. "he had been hired only last month by "andy #oo$ and was
substituting for a teacher on maternity lea-e when ,an&a $illed her.
(ead more) (emembering the "andy #oo$ %lementary shooting -ictims
For the teachers who li-ed through the carnage, difficult tas$s lie ahead.
In the coming days, they will bury their colleagues and 8; small children they taught and
adored, while comforting parents and nursing the tender hearts of the children who sur-i-ed.
<indergarten teacher =anet 2ollmer $nows at least half of the $illed children.
/*en of them were in my class last year,/ she told CNN's +nderson Cooper on "unday. /It's
tough. It's tough./
!hen the shots rang out, 2ollmer loc$ed her classroom door, co-ered the windows,
including the one in the door, then too$ the children into a noo$ between boo$cases and a
wall.
"he read them a story to $eep them calm.
/*hey $ept saying '#ow come we're here for so long' '!ell, it will be a little longer.' / she
answered. /!hen they're 6, you do whate-er you can to $eep them safe and $eep them
calm./
/!e're going to be safe,/ 2ollmer told them, /because we're sitting o-er here and we're all
together./
(ead more) *eacher) 'I wanted to be the last thing they heard, not the gunfire'
First-grade teacher <risten (oig herded her students into a bathroom, loc$ed the door and
told them not to ma$e a peep.
*hey got impatient, antsy, wanted someone to go out and see what was happening. No, she
told them. "he was afraid they would all die.
/If they started crying, I would ta$e their face and tell them, 'It's going to be 3<.' I wanted that
to be the last thing they heard,/ she said, /not the gunfire in the hall./
*he wait dragged on, 2ollmer said.
/1aybe it was 8; minutes, a half-hour0 I'm not sure./
'olice $noc$ed at the door to ta$e them all out. *hey instructed her to ha-e the
schoolchildren hold hands and close their eyes.
/+t 6, it's not so easy to close your eyes and wal$,/ 2ollmer said. /"o I had them loo$ toward
the wall./ *hey all had to be bra-e.
'resident Barac$ 3bama eulogi&ed the teachers in a speech to Newtown and the nation
"unday night.
/*hey responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances -- with
courage and with lo-e, gi-ing their li-es to protect the children in their care,/ he said.
/!e $now that there were other teachers who barricaded themsel-es inside classrooms, and
$ept steady through it all, and reassured their students by saying '!ait for the good guys,
they're coming'0 '"how me your smile.'/
(ead more) !hat really ma$es schools safer
Now Newtown will need to muster the courage to rebuild, to $eep raising the siblings of fallen
angels, to face another day without a belo-ed child.
"andy #oo$ %lementary will probably mo-e into another building, away from the scene of
the spilled blood and bullet holes. *eachers and children will go bac$ to class, prepare
lessons, do homewor$, ta$e tests and grade them.
/!e need to get the $ids bac$ in school,/ 2ollmer said.
2ollmer, her colleagues and the children ha-e all seen and heard too much and gotten
through it bra-ely. %-en soldiers e>perience permanent trauma after seeing a child being
$illed -- let alone 8; at once.
This article is about the heroes who sacrificed their life, the heroes who tried their
best to keep each child calm and safe during this horrible shooting. The principal and
multiple teachers died trying to save the school or their students. Others tried to find spots
to hide the children and do anything they could to keep them alive. One teacher took their
kids in the bathroom and kept telling them it would be okay, another teacher put their
students in between a wall and bookcase and read them stories. She waited until the
police came, and walked them out making sure they couldnt see the ones who didnt
make it. Sandy Hook Elementary will continue, ust in a different building so the teachers
and students arent walking the halls of the horrible tragedy.
This article is an e!ample of leadership because these adults did absolutely
everything they could to try and help these students survive, even if it meant they died.
Teachers went in front of students while the man was shooting so they could have a
chance in surviving. "#nne $arie $urphy%s body was found in a classroom, slumped
over young children killed in the shooting&'(rumfield). Teachers hid their children and
talked to them so that the last thing they heard wasnt a gunshot. "* wanted that to be the
last thing they heard, not the gunfire in the hall&'+oig). ,hether it was a teacher or
principal who didnt make it, or if they did make it, they did their best to lead these
children and help them have a longer life.