by Gloria Cowdin
Around 5:30 a.m. Aug. 19, Bistro Kids chef Scott Brake found that someone had smashed a rock through the lower window of the south-western door in The Commons. The perpetrator had then taken the same rock and used it to break into a vending machine, stealing a couple of sodas and then leaving the school. The soda thief left the rock, which is now in possession of the school as evidence.
“We were lucky,” STA President Nan Bone said. “I’ve been here eight years, never had that happen before.”
According to Bone, the alarm system had been set the night before, as it is every night, but for unknown reasons did not go off when the M&A Building was broken into. The cleaning crews are usually the last people to leave campus, around 9 p.m., and set the school alarms. Why the alarm did not go off is still under speculation. The administration plans to meet with the cleaning crews and the alarm company’s representatives as soon as possible.
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Security footage is being overviewed as well. There is no security camera installed outside the door that was broken into, something which is now being considered. All the classrooms and offices on campus have been thoroughly checked for any signs of a burglary or vandalism, but nothing has been discovered missing or defiled.
When asked if the crime might be associated with the unrest and riots surrounding the death of Ferguson, MO, teen Michael Brown, Bone said absolutely not.
“I really believe [the break-in] almost was like a prank, a little bit,” Bone said. “[The perpetrator] took a couple bottles of pop and if [the purpose of the break-in] was bigger than that, I’m sure it would have been more vandalism.”
Whether a prank or a malicious action, the break-in has been a reminder to students and faculty that we should always be aware of the possibility of crime, even somewhere as safe as STA.
As student principal Mary Beth Compton stated, “It’s always a good reminder for all of us to be aware of our surroundings and to be careful wherever we are.”
