By Jack Friedman
Staff Writer
Mira Costa High School students were among approximately eight million Californians to participate in a drop, cover, and hold drill known as the Great Shake Out Oct. 21 at 10:21 a.m.
This drill, originally designed to educate Californians about how to protect themselves during an earthquake, has turned into the most participated-in disaster drill across the United States. Participation in this drill has increased exponentially in the last two years.
“I think the drill went well. We wanted to do a large-scale drill, but with the weather, I didn’t think it was appropriate to drag the entire student body out onto the muddy field. Based on the circumstances, the drill we performed worked quite well,” Vice Principal Jennie Wright said.
While many administrators were pleased with the drill, many of the students believed it was useless.
“I thought the whole drill was a waste of time. This did not at all prepare me for a real earthquake,” junior Chris Alfano said.
In many students’ minds, the drill was a disappointment and in need of improvement. The Manhattan Beach School Board is open to suggestions on how to make the earthquake drill run more smoothly.
“I feel students and teachers really need to focus on taking these drills seriously. Even if we’re not asking you to leave your classroom, I expect that everyone will at least pretend that it is a real scenario. If a disaster were to have occurred, we want everyone to be prepared and know what to do,” Wright said.
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