[Drizzt]

Teacher's BB gun closes school

He brought it as study aid, and is put on leave
January 31, 2003

By NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A veteran Plymouth High School physics teacher has been put on paid leave after he brought a BB gun to high school for a class experiment.

Thursday around 6:30 a.m., a mother dropping off her teen at Plymouth High in Canton spotted a man entering the school and carrying what she thought was a rifle, school officials and police said.

The woman called Canton police, who promptly sent several officers to the school. Plymouth is one of three high schools that make up an educational complex of about 5,100 students.

Traffic was backed up as officers locked down the school. Students were herded into classrooms. Officers went room-to-room in search of the gun.

The teacher handed over his BB gun, which was locked in a cabinet, said Jim Ryan, superintendent of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools.

By 7:30 a.m., everything was back to normal.

Ryan said the teacher, whose name is not beingreleased, had used a BB gun for 20 years at Canton High to demonstrate the physics of velocity. But he recently was assigned to a new building at Plymouth High.

"He's saddened and puzzled," Ryan said, describing the teacher's reaction to the incident. "He's taking it as seriously as we are."

The school put the teacher on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

The teacher will be on leave "as long as it takes us to finish the investigation" -- which will be at least three days, Ryan said.

Canton Police Lt. Patrick Nemecek said a report will be completed and forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. It's unclear whether any charges will be filed against the teacher, he added.

Since the Columbine shooting incident in 1999, schools across the country have been on heightened alert.

Ryan said that if a teacher or anyone decides to bring a weapon to school, they should first let the administration know. For example, if a historian or teacher wanted to re-enact part of the U.S. Civil War, he or she could bring a weapon -- provided it wasn't loaded or fired, Ryan said.

Plymouth High, along with Canton High and Salem High, make up an educational campus setting in Canton Township. On Thursday, the principals of the three schools sent a letter to parents that described the incident.

The letter read, in part: "We are extremely proud of the way our students and staff handled this situation. The health and safety of our students is most important to us, and our partnership with the Canton Township Police department proved very valuable today."

http://www.freep.com/news/locway/bb31_20030131.htm

[pax]

"Extremely proud"?

sigh.

pax

"The sky is falling!" -- Chicken Little, whose actions, no doubt, would have caused the Canton Township officials to be equally proud.

[PATH]

Oh Lord when and where does this stupidity end?:(

[critter]

Heaven forbid the kids actually have an opportunity to LEARN anything interesting! Everybody sit still in their seats and read the little books that provide the liberal, politically correct and historically revised views of everything!

Ignorence is NOT confined to the student body!

[Airwolf]

http://flymeaway.net/images/sheep.gif

http://flymeaway.net/images/sheeple.gif

[Drizzt]

Plymouth teacher could face discipline for bringing BB gun to class

He's suspended after cops lock down Plymouth school

By Maureen Feighan / The Detroit News

PLYMOUTH -- A longtime Plymouth High School physics teacher could face disciplinary action after he brought a BB gun to school for an experiment Thursday and an alarmed parent notified police, forcing a lockdown of the school campus for at least an hour.

The teacher, whose name district officials would not release, did not instruct classes on Thursday and is on paid administrative leave until district officials and Canton Township Police complete separate investigations of the incident. He could face criminal charges and disciplinary action by the district.

"We're taking this pretty seriously," Supt. Jim Ryan said. "He's suspended until we complete the investigation."

The teacher, who has been with the district for more than 20 years, told district officials he brought the BB gun to school to conduct an experiment on velocity and momentum, which he has done in the past, Ryan said. But with zero-tolerance policies now in place that prohibit weapons of any kind on school grounds, the teacher should have notified administrators ahead of time.

"I'm assuming because he's done it so many years past that he thought it was OK," Ryan said. "But this is a different day and age."

The teacher could face anything from a verbal reprimand to losing his job. Misdemeanor weapon charges also could be filed, depending on what the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office decides.

The incident happened between 6:30-7 a.m., when a parent dropping off her child noticed a man walking into the building with what appeared to be a rifle. Alarmed, she notified Canton Township Police.

Lt. Pat Nemecek said the woman's description was so precise and detailed that "we were convinced there was some type of weapon brought in."

After the police contacted the school, officials went into a "code-red" mode, locking all school buildings, locking kids in classrooms, clearing hallways and directing all incoming traffic to the school to another school.

Police later found the teacher alone in his classroom and recovered the gun from a locked cabinet.

Ryan said while the lockdown "worked great," the incident was a huge inconvenience.

"Fortunately, it had as positive an ending as it did," Ryan said

http://www.detnews.com/2003/schools/0301/31/d03-73469.htm

[Greg L]

So the teacher who has been demonstrating this portion of physics for 20 or so years, keeps the bb gun in a locked locker in an empty classroom, shows no bad intentions with said rifle, still gets suspended from teaching. Let me guess, this is probably one of the more popular teachers too as he probably makes the lessons interesting (something which the administration types never could when they were trying to teach). Put in your retirement papers sir, this generation is a lost cause, mainly due to their parent's lack of ability to deal with reality.

And a once great nation fell with not a bang but a pathetic whimper.

Greg

[Standing Wolf]

Are leftists born stupid, or do they go to school for it?

[Apple a Day]

No, it wasn't me, in case anyone was wondering.

[jungleman]

Oh hell he was probably going to assasinate the entire student body.:rolleyes:

[jmbg29]

Are leftists born stupid, or do they go to school for it? Both.:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Hkmp5sd]

Ryan said that if a teacher or anyone decides to bring a weapon to school, they should first let the administration know.

While a BB gun may be somewhat hazardous, IT IS NOT A WEAPON as far as I am concerned!

Guess he could have taken a piece of copper tubing, a CO2 cartridge and a marble and used it to perform a demonstration of velocity. Since it's not a "weapon", he'd be ok, even though it could actually kill someone.

[Kevlarman]

Still, you gotta wonder why the teacher didn't have the rifle in a case while transporting it around. I mean, I don't walk around with my AK-47 in plain view. Sure, it's only an airsoft, but how are the people walking on the street supposed to know that?

If anything, the woman who reported it was just being vigilant.

[goosegunner]

Are leftists born stupid, or do they go to school for it?
It's the other way: stupid people become leftists:D

[MLH]

:banghead:

[jimpeel]

"I'm assuming because he's done it so many years past that he thought it was OK," Ryan said. "But this is a different day and age."
Ah, yes, the "That was then, this is now" defense. He was trustworthy until a pair of idiots in Denver did something wrong. Now he is untrustworthy based on their actions.:banghead:

[Skunkabilly]

My Criminology professor used to shoot at the TA with a rubber band gun. :D

[Baba Louie]

He could... "Shoot his eye out" with that, that, that, eeeeevil assault weapon thingy.

So instead of teaching a class on velocity he got to participate in a class on mob mentality, watching everyone go ballistic, and a test on school security system procedures.

Quite a lesson for everyone involved.

It would be interesting to know just what the class would have learned about "velocity" with his chosen visual aid.

Guess he'll have some time on his hands to either go back to school and get another degree, or publish some article or two to further his future teaching abilities.

OK Class, today we're going to learn what NOT to do in regards to the theories of velocity, so let's begin...

Velocity, the definition of...
1.Broadly, rapidity or speed. (applicable here, yes?)
2. A vector quantity, the rate of change of position in a given direction. (Also appropriate, I think)
3. Distance traveled in a given amount of time. (A good example or two from the mornings exercise, don't you think class?)
(from Latin velox, fast)

"He's saddened and puzzled,"...

Those science teacher types. Cause and effect. Who woulda thunk it?

Saddened and puzzled. And probably ruined in a field he loved.

2003 is not 1983, that's for sure.

Adios

[Tropical Z]

What a bunch of IDIOTS!
And NOT the teacher.