At about 1:13 p.m. Thursday afternoon, just three minutes before the change between fifth and sixth hours, a power outage forced teachers to enter into a temporary lockdown.

According to Principal Allan Medina, allegedly a power station went out in Boon, Colo., knocking out the power from Pueblo (about three hours to the east) all the way to the Kansas border, about one hour to the west of Lamar.

Teachers kept students in their classrooms as administrators checked the halls and classes. Student reaction varied from annoyed to indifferent. "I got a chill in my spine," Jared Penaflor, junior, said. "It was pitch dark in Mr. (Monty) Tines's room. It was kind of freaky."

"We just fired up the laptop and watched a DVD," Carissa King, senior, said. "It was a good time to catch up with 'Veronica Mars.'"

Parents were allowed to check their students out, but students were not allowed to leave the classroom. "It was chaos," BreOnna Aguilera, junior, said. "I just wanted to go home."

After two hours of darkness, power was restored at 3:24 p.m., just 15 minutes after Medina released students to go home for the day.

Because of the power outage, the Savage Chieftain -- which would have been printed Thursday -- will be released either Friday, Oct. 27, or Monday, Oct. 30.