For the majority of our past school years we have heard of schools closing down due to unforeseen circumstances, but always thought “It’ll never happen to us.” Now students, teachers and staff throughout the halls of HHS find themselves standing corrected. I count myself a member of this group as well. There was an “electrical malfunction” and HHS found itself out of commission for five school days.

Students across the city gawked in wonderment at this thought. Instead of “It’ll never happen to us” they were thinking: “Are you serious? It happened to us?” Indeed it did folks, and I am here to tell you as great as that idea is in theory, it sure does pack a lot of punch.

Honestly, I’m not quite sure it was worth the hassle. Yes, the extra rest was lovely and the days to relax were divine, but there were several downsides. School activities such as the One-Act, basketball and wrestling were either displaced or lost time altogether. And that was just during the “break.” Once school was back in session I found myself loaded with new homework and the old homework I’d been unable to do because I left my books at school. Pile that on top of the activities that are trying to make up for lost time and it is quite a load.

Considering all the negative effects of the unfortunate situation the question occurred to me… “Why didn’t someone have a plan?” Naturally, there are plans for bomb threats and lockdowns, but compared to those, a fire in an old building is relatively likely. Especially in Hastings, Nebraska. There are fire drills yes, those are very important! However, has anyone ever considered if an event occurred that required a serious evacuation, couldn’t that present severe or unrepairible damage? Probably. What would happen then?

Fortunately for the Hastings High community, our school can be repaired and we have power thanks to a few trusty generators. What if that option had not been available to us? How would the situation have worked out? Classes could have been able to be held in alternative locations. The old Wal-Mart is very nice. But how long would the set up for that take? Maybe as long as the repairs, maybe not. A favored alternative among some students might have been to just not have classes until repairs were finished. That would indeed cause a sad farewell to summer vacation time.

The available “options” are not the point I stand to make here. It is that there could very well be several mediocre choices, but how long would it take a team to make the decision and take action?

The hassles and headaches many administrators, staff, and other professionals dealt with might have been a tad bit milder had there been a plan. Rachel Ray has an interesting take on saving time and hassle in the kitchen and it fits this situation nicely. On her show she always reminds people of two very important time savers. One: When you come home from the grocery store, wash all your produce that same day. It saves you a lot of time later on in the week when you are trying to get dinner on the table in less than a half an hour. Two: Turn the stovetop on before you need it. That way it is hot and ready for you so you’re not waiting on it.

I have a feeling that from now on someone in the Hastings Public School District might be thinking of a plan, just in case. It was a very unfortunate situation that brought these questions about having a plan to my mind.

And just because I question doesn’t mean I don’t applaud the way HPS administration stepped up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Truly they were quite successful under the circumstances. I hope they didn’t lose too many hours of sleep. I know very few students did.