Saturday, October 25, 2014

Her Name Is Megan Silberberger. And She's No Lunch Lady!

Yesterday, there was another tragic school shooting. This time, in Marysville, Washington.

As there usually is in the first following days, the information is conflicting and sketchy as to why the student shooter did what he did.

The only thing I'm going to say about the shooter is that he was a troubled kid.

There's no other way to see it.  Apparently, the signs were there, on his now removed Facebook page and Twitter feed, but the signs went unnoticed. 

Or, if they were noticed, they weren't acted upon.

And from what I understand, if reports are correct, it was all over a girl.


There is, however, one conflicting piece of information I'd like to clear up here and now.

It's been reported that a 'lunch lady' tried to intervene in the shooting.

I have nothing specifically against 'lunch ladies', but this is incorrect and needs to be clarified.

The person who ran into that gunfire, and straight up to the shooter was a woman.

She is young.  She is petite, and she was unarmed.

And I'm sure, even given her bravery, she was scared shitless. 

But ... she acted anyway.

Her name is Megan Silberberger, and she's no Lunch Lady!

 
 Pic taken from Google images


Megan Silberberger is in fact a first year Social Studies teacher, and as far as I'm concerned, she's a hero.

From what I've read, Megan came running into the cafeteria when she heard the shots.

She went straight up to the shooter, and while he was reloading, she grabbed his arm.

This action was enough to distract the shooter, and when he shot next, he (I think accidentally) ended up shooting himself in the neck, instead of more innocent classmates.


There's no way to know what would have happened if Megan Silberberger had not approached the gunman.

I'm guessing more students would have been senselessly massacred.

But she did. And they weren't.

She is a hero.


When most people hear gunfire, they run.  They run AWAY from it, not INTO it.

Not Megan.

Whether she realized what she was doing at the time or not, she put thoughts of her own safety aside, and ran headfirst into the cafeteria filled with gunfire.

Not everyone would do that.

And you probably wouldn't expect it from a petite, unarmed woman.

But she did.

And she saved lives.


I really hope Megan receives the recognition she deserves for her heroic actions, other than being an 'UPDATE' to news articles, stating she was not in fact a lunch lady.

She deserves to be recognized for her bravery and for reacting so quickly.

Had she not approached the shooter, more young lives would have undoubtedly been lost.


Her name is Megan Silberberger, and she's no Lunch Lady!  She's a HERO!

 Pic taken from Google images

K.

P.S.  Please monitor what your kids are saying on Social Media.  The signs of troubled kids are ALWAYS there.  We just have to see them, and understand them for what they are.  Cries for help.

18 comments:

Hayley Smith said...

Thank You Kim for recognizing Megan. She truly is the hero. She's been overlooked. I truly hope the world recognizes her for her bravery.

D'Annette said...

She undoubtedly saved many more lives-what an amazing example of courage!

Anonymous said...

Very nice blog entry. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Well written! All I can say is WOW and thank goodness she was there. Hopefully this is shared well and the story gets out. Sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Megan for being so brave, I'm quite sure you were petrified but you still risked your life for all of those kids. Such a brave woman you are!

Unknown said...

Megan actions were very heroic. Although I know she did not want any focus on her. She is understandably very shook up. She needs our prayers as well to get through all the horrible things that unfolded in front of her.

Anonymous said...

Teachers, new and seasoned, paras, specialists and office staff, and 'lunch room ladies' all care about their students. Thank you to Megan for her effort.

Sick of the media said...

Anyone think to ask her if she would like her name given out ? Anyone think maybe she would like a minute to breathe ? Hope the media and all of you with public voices don't harass her for words making her relive this over and over. She deserves credit, but come on. Give her some anonymity to heal!!!!!

Patrick Healey said...

Very good blog. Nice to see Meagn be recognized for what she did. And to the commenter SICK OF MEDIA - we're not all the CNN's right and sensationalize things; I know as a media guy myself I give people of incidents like this and fires time and if they don't want to talk I move on and don't harass.
Why is it that people paint ALL media the same?

Again Kim, very good blog piece. Nice job. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Nothing wrong with being a lunch lady lady!

Anonymous said...

She ought to be applauded for her heroism - whether a lunch lady, teacher, bus driver or custodian. All are valuable and all are people who interact with students daily and have the opportunity to influence young people. (Personally, a kind, observant bus driver helped me more than my teachers, by identifying that something wasn't right at home and speaking out.)

Anonymous said...

I agree that she is a hero but to put her in context as "no lunch lady" really isn't fair. Maybe she was a teacher, maybe she was a custodian. maybe she was a principle. It doesn't matter, she is a hero. That is all that counts. Although you stated you have nothing against lunch ladies, it really seems that you are lessening your respect for them.

Anonymous said...

Just something I feel should be put out there.. This evening at a meeting she said that she never wanted to be considered a hero, that she always only wanted to be a teacher. That is the role she played that day. Megan, you are a brave, amazing woman, and those students are blessed to be able to call you " Teacher."

Anonymous said...

Megan is a hero. I thank her for her actions and no doubt saving more lives. I don't appreciate the tone of "she is no lunch lady" what if she was? Still important! Our lunch ladies rock.

Anonymous said...

"I have nothing specifically against 'lunch ladies'"

So you have something unspecific against lunch ladies? Or you look down on lunch ladies? Or what? I really think you ruined what could have been a really nice, gracious post by rubbing in again and again that she "was no lunch lady."

Anonymous said...

I applaud Megan but your piece doesn't earn you any kuddos. Megan's act was brave and your translation demeaning people that serve lunch is nothing short of condescending. I don't know you but I know a lot of remarkable lunch ladies and they would have chosen their words a lot more carefully and tactfully.

Kim's Korner said...

Hayley - You're welcome. I think. ;-) I was hoping she would be recognized by your community,
the school, etc. simply for her heroism. I wasn't quite expecting it to explode into what it
did, but here we are.

Sick of the media - You're absolutely right, I did not ask Megan if she'd like to have
her name given out. To be honest, I had no idea half of Washington would be reading this post.

I did not contact her, nor did/do I have any intention of contacting her in the future
for her thoughts on 'what happened'. I didn't steal her anonymity. I woke up, I read
a few articles about the shooting, and the first three were incorrect. Then I started
reading more articles where it was clarified it was Megan. Her name was already out there.

It was a spur of the moment post from a mom in NS Canada, who thought the teacher should
be given a pat on the back. Yet all of a sudden, I'm a TMZ dirtbag (and I suppose
I'll get in trouble for that one too) who disrespects lunch ladies.

Whenever there is a tragedy, so much focus is put on the person who caused the pain. I
simply wanted a few people to notice the person who put her own safety aside and saved
others. Apparently I'm not the only one who appreciates what she did.

Patrick - Thanks very much for stopping by, and for the encouragement :-)

To all the Anonymous people who are offended that I referenced 'lunch ladies'. - Wow.
Seriously? SERIOUSLY? The very first article I read on the incident referenced a
'lunch lady' intervening, the next couple either 'lunch lady' or 'cafeteria worker', and it stuck
in my head. That's it. No ill will towards lunch ladies in the least. No secret, passive
aggressive disrespect intended.

And those who 'know' me, will know that.

Had the articles said, 'a visiting parent to the school who was a pilot', or 'the campus security
guard', or 'the school psychologist', or ... whatever, the title would have been, 'And she's
no pilot'. Once again, nothing against pilots.

I have occupied this little Korner of the blogsphere for a long time now, but many of you
would not know that, because you've never been here before.

So unless you've gone over to those links along the left side, and read a few other posts
(before judging my character, and how I perceive lunch ladies, teachers, bus drivers,
administrators ... or pilots, or how I treat anyone for that matter), you'll have two choices,
either take the post for what it was, a hail to Megan in thanks for what she did ... Or find
something negative from it, and see an issue where there is none. In the end, what you
walk away with is your own choice, your issues. Not, mine.


And to Megan, if you happen to read this - I truly am sorry if I contributed in any way
to adding to the chaos you're trying to get through right now. That was never my
intention. I've been blogging for 8 yrs ... eight ... about many things that I believe are
important, (or just for fun) and THIS post goes somewhat viral. What? Why?

I do believe you were a hero that day. Whether you intended/wanted to or not. And that
you should be recognized for it. You deserve it.

But you're a teacher, and if what you did that day shows anything of your character,
you're going to be a hero to those kids in many ways over the years :-)

Thank you, for what you did then, and the great things I'm sure you'll do in your
classroom in the years to come. I sincerely hope you have lots of love and support to
get you through these next difficult weeks.

Anonymous said...

You had 3 choices:

1. Ignore the comments.

2. Acknowledge what you actually communicated and realize you used a poor choice of words.

3. Put a spin on it and make it sound like everyone else is negative and you'r positive.

You chose the latter. The fact is that you are not from Marysville and you don't know how sensitive things are here right now. With all of you'r previouse blogging experience, you still made a bad choice in words.