Let’s not wait around for another mass shooting in Maine

By Margaret Martin

Margaret Martin is a 10th-grade English teacher at Lewiston High School.

Nearly two years ago now, I walked into my 10th-grade English classroom on Monday, Oct. 30, with no idea where to begin.

We were in the middle of a lesson on the First Amendment. I had no idea if any of my students had lost someone last Wednesday — a parent, older sibling, aunt or uncle, cousin. Were we supposed to just pick up where we left off? How could anything go back to normal?

It couldn’t, but that’s exactly what we did. We talked about it as a class — and of course the school had counselors available — and we did some activities together to support our community, but ultimately we picked up and continued where we left off the previous week.

We had to. It’s the reality for too many students and teachers, not just after a tragedy in our hometown, but every time we see a school on lockdown on social media or a horrific shooting somewhere in the country. If we don’t move on, and try for normalcy, we would be overwhelmed by the constant, looming fear I know so many of my students and colleagues experience.

I’m tired of it. So this year, as I headed back to my classroom at Lewiston High School, I did it with a renewed sense of urgency for our state to vote “Yes” on Question 2 this November.

Continue reading here at the Portland Press Herald.