In this season of gratitude, “thank you” to the Portland Police Department and the Portland High School building administration. On Nov. 15, the Portland police received a call about an active shooter in the school. I teach social studies at PHS, but on that day I was out sick. As texts about the lockdown started appearing on my phone from my daughter (a junior at PHS) and my colleagues, panic set in. I worried frantically until I started getting messages such as: “Mike Bennis is here, we will be OK,” or “Just saw Bennis … thank God he is here because he knows the building and he knows us.”

Mike Bennis was the school resource officer at PHS for many years until the Portland Board of Public Education voted to remove the SROs from the city’s high schools in July 2020. Tuesday’s events are a reminder that school threats are real, and they are scary. Having a trusted police officer on scene can make a huge difference in the outcome of perceived and real threats. It certainly helped keep staff and students calm in this case.

I thank the Portland Police Department for its swift and thorough response. As a teacher and a mother, I truly appreciate the officers’ willingness to serve and protect. Thanks also to Sheila Jepson, Portland High School principal, for her quick and informative communication with families. And once again, I thank Officer Michael Bennis for his unwavering commitment to the PHS community.

Ericka Lee-Winship
Portland