ALICE Prepares Schools for Emergency

The Mille Lacs Band Tribal Police Department conducted an ALICE drill at the lower and upper schools in late May. ALICE stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate." The Tribal Police Department has two certified ALICE Instructors: Officer Josh Hemsworth and Tribal Emergency Manager Monte Fronk.

ALICE gives employees options to keep themselves and their students safe during a threat situation. The ALICE Training Institute was founded by law enforcement officer Greg Crane after the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. The Institute delivers online training blended with onsite instructor-led demonstrations, practical scenarios, and evaluation drills.

Prior to the ALICE Drill at Nay Ah Shing, all staff had to complete an online module on ALICE and educate their students on ALICE and what they would do if an active shooter threat was occurring in their school hallways or their classrooms.

Once student education was completed, a practice was conducted to determine how staff and students responded to a mock threat. In preparing for the actual ALICE live drill, letters were sent home with students to inform parents and caregivers of the day and time of the drill.

On the day of the ALICE drill, Mille Lacs Health Care Sys- tem Ambulance Director Rich Dutcher volunteered to act as the "bad guy" for both school ALICE drills. Afterwards, Rich went to the students and introduced himself so they knew who he was and why he volunteered to help that day.

Miigwech to Commissioner Rick St. Germaine, Principals Noah Johnson and Lehtitia Weiss, Officer Josh Hemsworth, and Tribal Emergency Manager Monte Fronk for their work on getting the staff and students prepared for the ALICE drill.