I looked up and saw the manager from Taco Bell from the Union (Sadly I visit Taco Bell often enough to know the manager :)). "Wait, you guys too?" If multiple buildings were being evacuated, then this was not a fire. I started running in the opposite direction, toward school. I passed my coworker best friend Robert. Our eyes met and we both yelled, "the kids!" and I kept going, calling the school on my way. Another mom answered the phone. She knew something was wrong already and I told her I was on my way. As I ran through the parking lot, I saw Mr. Craig, our once a week music teacher, getting musical instruments out of his car. "Mr. Craig, UT is being evacuated." He could have immediately gotten right back into his car and left. Instead he said, "Do you think school will need help?!" "Yes!" We both ran inside. It was pretty surreal to run into Ezra's classroom and see a bunch of toddlers very calmly having snack. Jamey's mom, who works in the building next to mine, was standing in the hallway crying. We were all trying to figure out what to do, still not knowing what the threat was exactly. One of the parents who happened to be co-oping that day was a fire fighter. He was in Ezra's class, calming cutting up apples for snack. "Aren't you a fire fighter?" "Yes." "Well, what should we do??" "Well, the first thing you should do is take a deep breath and stay calm." He stayed calm the whole time, even later when he was blocking traffic while holding his baby daughter in his arms.
By this point I had Ezra on my hip and I was in the hallway talking to some other parents and the director. I remembered that the kids do tornado drills frequently and there's basement hallway where they normally go. "Does anyone know what the threat is? Should we take cover in the basement rather than putting the kids at risk outside? The building is very solidly made." Just then we all got a text from UT. It said only, "All UT buildings being evacuated immediately. Get as far away from campus as you can, as fast as you can." Well, that settled it. We were going to have to take 60 kids on a very busy street. I went to Eliza's classroom, which I had been avoiding since I arrived because you don't have to have your story straight for the toddler class, but you certainly do for pre-k. Ms. Allison was saying, "Put your shoes back on!" Some of the girls had been playing dress up and had their shoes off. Eliza said, "Mom!! You're here! Why?" I immediately started lying about a fire drill. "But we have fire drills a lot and you don't come. Why are you here today?" "Oh, this is a very special big fire drill. Even the college students are practicing!" Ms. Allison was saying, "Line up, grab a buddy and do not let go of their hand!" The hallway filled with kids. 4 of the assistant teachers (UT college students) rushed into the door. Instead of just leaving campus immediately, they had come straight to pre-school to help evacuate. We made eye contact. "Just grab a couple of kids hands and make sure they have their buddy."
The school is required to have an evacuation site approved by the state. Turns out it was Eliza's old school, right next to a huge dorm next to campus. It was probably also being evacuated. We couldn't go there. So, we didn't know where we were going instead but needed to get out immediately. Ms. Allison stood in the street to block traffic as we crossed, and the next thing I know I realize I am leading the whole pack down the street, Ezra on my hip, holding Eliza's hand and she's holding on to Caroline and Genevieve. As we walked, I could hear the UT students saying, "Bombs. One in every building supposedly." A lot of people stared at our big group of little kids. A student reporter was taking pictures of Eliza and Caroline running across the Drag, stepping in every puddle they could on the way. "Hey guys, have you guys heard anything about this maybe not being credible?" "Nope, just the opposite in fact." Chills. We kept walking as far as we could as fast as we could. After about 3 blocks I stopped to yell back to a teacher, "Where are we taking them?" "They said the other approved site is Hyde Park Methodist." "Wait, what?" That's over a mile from here!" "Then just keep walking." A couple of blocks later a sorority girl was rushing into her sorority house when she saw us and said, "You guys! Bring the kids in here!!" We stopped to yell back to the teachers and director. "Is this far enough? What do you think?" The building was made of solid brick, but I was looking at all the huge windows, thinking how all that shattered glass would be horrible in a bomb. But so would being unprotected in the street. It was terrible to realize none of us really knew what we should do; it was just about instincts. So we went inside to take cover.
Once inside I could see the full production behind us. Ezra's old infant teacher, Ms. Lorena, had her 6 baby stroller full of babies. I have no idea how she got it up the steps and out of the building. On top of the stoller she had a tub full of bottles ready for the babies in case we were trapped for a long time. The director, Ms. Madelynn, was required to be the last one out of the building. She had grabbed the emergency files so she had contact info for all the parents.
The sorority girls were very sweet and excited to introduce themselves to the kids. Eliza and Caroline showed the girls they could do "Hook em horns" and Eliza had to show off her light up shoes. I looked down and saw a million texts from friends. I had only been able to say "y" to a text from Mom asking if I was with the kids and to send one to Caroline's mom saying "C is safe with me, headed north on foot" while we were walking and then no other texts would go through.
Eventually all the kids were picked up by parents and S came to pick us up. He had no idea what had been going on. Eliza said it was "the best day ever!" She and her friends all thought we had just done a big drill and as a bonus had gotten to get really wet in the rain, get some exercise and meet some nice college girls and see their house.
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