DELPHOS— It has been two weeks since a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 students and faculty, and injuring many others. The tragedy has once again brought out debate and fervor in waves across the nation, and a question that has been looming in the minds of many educators: “How do I keep my students safe?”.
For Marissa Schimmoeller (née Bensman), a first year English teacher at Delphos Jefferson High School, and graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School, the answers were very complicated. Marissa was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder which impairs motor function and affects body movement. As a result, Marissa uses a wheelchair to navigate through her daily life. “I begin on the first day [of school] by talking about my disability. I tell them they may be asked to assist me in the classroom.” Marissa said. But talking to her students after the Parkland shooting “was the first time that I had to share my limitations in terms of protecting them”.
In a personal Facebook post, Schimmoeller wrote about the first day back to her classroom after the incident in Florida.
“Today was really hard for me,” the post begins. “Today was the first time I had to teach the day after a mass school shooting. I dreaded facing my students this morning.”
As the students settled in, the tragedy weighing heavily on their minds, they asked Mrs. Schimmoeller the question she had been anticipating, “What will we do if a shooter comes into your room?”.
“My stomach sank” she continued. “I launched into my pre-planned speech about our plan of action. Then, I knew I had to say the harder part: ‘I want you to know that I care deeply about each and every one of you and that I will do everything I can to protect you. But, being in a wheelchair, I will not be able to protect you the way an able-bodied teacher will. And if there is a chance for you to escape, I want you to go. Don’t worry about me. Your safety is my number one priority.’”
Her students, however, had other plans. “Slowly, quietly, as the words I had said sunk in, another student raised their hand,” Schimmoeller related. “She said ‘Mrs. Schimmoeller, we already talked about it. If anything happens, we are going to carry you.’”
Schimmoeller’s social media narrative of this exchange has had a resounding affect on people, not only across the nation, but across the world as well.
“I think my post has touched people so deeply because of the goodness it highlights.” she acknowledged. “I wanted to share that with those around me, because I spent so much of my day angry about the violence, and I knew that people needed reminding of the good in this world just as much as I did.”
The original post has been shared more than 23,000 times, and while Schimmoeller stated she is “thankful for all the kind comments” and “moved by the outpouring of support”, she hopes that the love and attention remains focused on “the amazing students at DJHS, and the victims and survivors of the tragedy in Parkland, Florida.”
Schimmoeller states that she has faith her story will continue to “be a vehicle that fosters empathy for others”.
“I understand it is hard to find the good in the world, especially after a tragedy like the one that we have watched unfold, but there is good. True goodness,” Schimmoeller stated in closing her post. “It was found in the hearts of my students today.”
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