Choir teacher Kaitlin Holt: The Chalkboard Hero of Saugus High School.

The backbone of any school is the teachers, who sometimes act in incredibly heroic ways. This was proven true when a troubled student opened fire on his classmates at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, on Fri., Nov. 15. One of the Chalkboard Heroes of that day was choir teacher Kaitlin Holt.

Kaitlin was teaching a class when five students suddenly bolted inside her classroom, claiming there was an active shooter outside. One of the students had been shot in two places. The quick-thinking educator grabbed a gunshot wound kit and immediately began to address the injured student’s wounds. Then she directed the students to block the doors to her classroom with rolling mirrors and a grand piano. She told them to turn off their phones, turn off the lights, and take shelter in her office.

Outside the choir room, the 16-year-old shooter killed two of his classmates, wounded three others, and then turned the gun on himself. He later died from his self-inflicted wounds.

Kaitlin says the staff received training for an active shooter situation last January. She insists she’s not a hero, she just reacted. But being required to instantly shift from being a teacher to being a paramedic was tough. “That should not be part of the teacher’s job,” she asserted. “I should not feel like I needed to be trained like a paramedic to save someone’s life and deal with the consequences of that.”

In spite of the trauma of that day, the heroic teacher is ready to return to her classroom. She says she wants her classroom to be a safe space for students, and she wants to be there for them. “I’m ready to do whatever my students need me to do,” she declared. “I want to help them rebuild.”

To read more about Kaitlin, click on this link to KTLA Channel 5.