Thomas Jefferson once said, “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

In other words, preparation breeds better results. Our Powell school district and police department leadership are clearly on the same page with both Jefferson’s sentiment and each other, as displayed by the quick response to the school shooting hoax last week. 

At 9:38 a.m., a male called the Powell Police Department and falsely reported shots had been fired at Powell Middle School, where the caller claimed to be. 

That led to an immediate response and officers entered the school, but it didn’t lead to an all-out, disruptive response, because they were prepared. 

They were prepared because, unfortunately, in the wake of the recent school shooting in Nashville, these hoax school shooting calls had been happening in surrounding states. Seeing that, Superintendent Jay Curtis told the Tribune that a plan was in place between the police and schools, which meant the call was confirmed as a hoax within 90 seconds. 

Police still swept schools in Powell and Cody, which also received a prank call, to be on the safe side. But in my view, by not fully disrupting school, it made the awful hoax a dismal failure. 

As a parent of a middle schooler, I was so pleased to see how this all turned out. Parents received an automated call, and email and a text message from the school district directing us to a message from Assistant Superintendent Jason Sleep to inform us of what happened. 

It makes my wife and I feel good to have both of our boys in a school system that cares so much about our children’s safety, and that plans so well in advance for these sort of scenarios. 

As someone who grew up mostly in Colorado and went to high school in the wake of Columbine, school shootings have been an all too common occurrence, causing me first to look around a high school or college classroom and look at potential escape routes, and now as a parent to think seriously about whether or not the schools my children are going to five days a week are providing adequate safety measures. 

So far, the schools in both Cody and Powell have proven they care and are ready to protect our children. It’s a bonus too, that this hoax didn’t even need to trouble our kids, who went about their day like normal. 

Middle school especially already has enough issues, from tests to drama with friends, for our youth to deal with. When at all possible, it’s nice to have them not have to worry about the worst case scenario. Let’s leave that in the capable hands of school leaders and the local police department.