Where Your Children Are texas

19 dead in shooting at Texas elementary school

Shooting suspect Salvador Ramos (Instagram)

Eighteen students and two teachers are dead, and many others are injured, after a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The named suspect, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, opened fire on students at Robb Elementary School today after reportedly shooting and killing his grandmother. Sources say Ramos was a former student at the school. He is also reported to be dead after a standoff with border patrol agents. Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that Ramos was a United States citizen.

Students were evacuated a few hours later to Sgt. Willie Deleon Civic Center, a mile and a half away from the school, while parents were alerted to where to pick up their children.

Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, is 80 miles from San Antonio, and 60 miles from the Mexican border. It serves students from second to fourth grade. The student body reflects the demographics of Uvalde, with over 90% of students listed as Hispanic or Latino. Nearly 90% of students qualify as low-income. The school falls well below the state average for standardized test scores.

Edit: It was previously reported that the death toll included only 14 students and 1 teacher; the number of deaths has, sadly, risen since the original publication of this post.

Death toll in Texas elementary school shooting rises; 19 children, 3 adults killed by shooter

Salvador Ramos: Suspect in Uvalde Elementary School Shooting

Texas gunman, 18, shoots dead 14 elementary schoolkids, one teacher, and seriously injures 13 after barricading himself inside building… – DailyMail

Robb Elementary School – GreatSchools

Where Your Children Are texas

Texas high school chivalry assignment an exercise in misogyny

In an age of cancel culture, where anything can be deemed offensive and virtually erased from the public consciousness, one wonders how this assignment ever made it past the initial idea phase of one high school English teacher in Texas.

Even if this assignment (seen below, originally posted by @BrandiDAddison via Twitter) had any actual aim other than to shock and entertain, one would expect to see it in a History classroom, and not an English one. Perhaps even more surprising, the tone-deaf teacher apparently had used this assignment in at least one year previous, allowing students the option to refuse participation, if they objected to the content.

More than a class project at Shallowater High School, the “rules” contained in this assignment were to be strictly followed all day, throughout school, and even at home. Members of the opposite sex could essentially grade them on their success. Oddly enough, this assignment was designed by a female English teacher.

While male students are expected to open doors, pull out chairs, and compose themselves cleanly and respectfully, with no foul language, female students are told to “obey any reasonable request of a male” and also to dress enticingly, clean up after the boys, and bring them treats. The disparity is apparent if these students are following these rules throughout the school day: while the boys may just be seen as nice and well-behaved, the girls would undoubtedly be judged in a very different light.

After Addison posted the offending documents on Twitter the assignment was removed from the school due to public outcry, though some critics still insist, “How else will we learn about how life was like for women in the 1300’s?” I guess we should remember that next time a History class begins a unit on slavery, then?

Shallowater High School in Shallowater, Texas, serves approximately 450 students in grades 9-12. Sixty-six percent of students are white, with the remainder mostly Hispanic. It boasts a 100% 4-year graduation rate and excellent college readiness scores.

Brandi D Addison (Twitter)

Texas school scraps chivalry assignment that had girls ‘obey any reasonable request of a male’ (NBC News)

Shallowater High School (GreatSchools)

Where Your Children Are texas

School shooting at Texas high school, 8-10 dead, suspect in custody

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image courtesy Facebook

Does this look like the face of evil to you?

Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, was arrested this morning in connection with a shooting at his Texas high school that left as many as 10 people dead (early reports confirm 9 students and 1 adult murdered), and many others injured, including a school resource officer. Students at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas told reporters they’d seen Pagourtzis prowling the halls wearing a black trench coat and carrying a sawed-off shotgun. At least three life-flight helicopters landed on school grounds to transport critically injured people to the hospital.

Pagourtzis apparently wasted no time, as it was reported that the school was placed on lockdown due to an active shooter at 8am. The situation was contained by 10am, after two hours of horror. Investigations also included the search for homemade pipe bombs in a mobile home he is said to have lived in, a mile from the school. But “the worst is over,” according to assistant principal Cris Richardson. Tell that to the grief stricken parents that will never see their children alive, again.

This attack was most definitely premeditated, as last month Pagourtzis purchased a t-shirt reading “Born to Kill,” and posted it proudly on his Facebook page, which has since been removed. He played football at the school and was listed as an honor student in his younger years, but is also described by classmates as quiet and withdrawn.

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Pagourtzis’ social media accounts are being removed, but some people were quick to get screenshots beforehand

There’s been no definitive link between the two incidents, but back in March, the school was placed on lockdown due to reports of shots being fired within the school. So Santa Fe High is no stranger to the fear that comes with mass shootings. They held a walkout on April 20th of this year, in protest of gun violence. That sure did a whole lot.

Early interviews with students alluded to Pagourtzis being bullied by peers and teachers alike. It’s no secret that bullying is rampant in schools, due in part to the complete lack of a true moral code (“What’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for Derek, you closed minded bigot”) and mob mentality that is present in unnatural environments of forced socialization (prison also comes to mind). Most kids escape relatively unscathed. Some have lasting issues that continue into adulthood. And a few become mass shooters. How will your children be affected?

Multiple fatalities reported after Texas high school shooting – live updates

Dimitrios Pagourtzis: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Santa Fe shooting suspect is student Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, who had ‘Born to Kill’ t-shirt

Where Your Children Are texas

Just another school on lockdown after a threat, NBD

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image courtesy Google Maps

Just another day in your average American public school.

School officials at Roy MIller High School in Corpus Christi, TX placed the school on lockdown for approximately 90 minutes because they received a “threatening recording” that was apparently first relayed to local police.

As the recording was in Spanish, with poor sound quality, no one seemed to know exactly what it said, but the school apparently sounded enough like Roy Miller that it warranted making everyone fear for their lives for an hour and a half.

The lockdown was lifted after no apparent threat was detected. Besides the fact that students experienced severe trauma during the incident (fearing for your life will do that to a person, after all), 90 minutes of class time was wasted (you know, the main reason children go to school, or at least, this is what we’re led to believe) – typically two classes’s worth.

While, yes, mass shootings, bombings, and the like could happen anywhere, they are more and more likely happening at local government indoctrination centers, also known as public schools. Officials are always on alert. Your children are always fearful.

Miller High School placed on lockdown after threatening recording relayed to CCISD police