The Golden Trident

By The Golden Trident Staff

Photos courtesy of Mark Brown

Golden High School and its students will forever remember March 3, 2025. That day, also known as 303 Day in Colorado, quickly became the biggest event across the entirety of Jefferson County.  For those unaware, at approximately 8:06 AM, an anonymous Safe2Tell was called in, with reports of a firearm sighting on school property. The Golden Police Department responded almost immediately, and a lockdown was called for at 8:15 AM. The lockdown would last for around one to two hours before students were gradually released starting at 9:30 AM. The Golden Police would find what the Safe2Tell report was referring to. 

The ‘threat’ ended up amounting to a cardboard gun, later identified as a fan-made replica from the TV show “Arcane.” But what about the two hours many students spent locked behind their school doors with little information? School may have been canceled for the day, but the following day, life resumed as normal. Across the school, students had many different experiences, whether they were caught in the hallway, the bathroom, or even if they never made it inside the school. Because of the obvious threats that have come to fruition across America the fact there was no information given to students, there was no belief that this was a drill or hoax. For the students of Golden High School on March 3, their lives had had the chance to be significantly changed. 

The student reportedly had this replica gun for a costume, but the Golden staff responded quickly and appropriately. Within minutes, Mr. Templeton and Mitch were in the cafeteria searching for the reported threat. Soon after, Golden P.D. arrived on the scene ready to protect Golden students. Of course, the students themselves were quick to move, every student joining any classroom as soon as they could. 

Students have unfortunately been prepared for this since the beginning of their education journey, but it means that all were safe during this time. Senior Braden Baybeck had just walked into his first hour classroom when the lockdown announcement came over the intercom. His teacher had left the room to go get his computer, so the students were left alone in the classroom. Baybeck says his first thought was “What is going on?” and immediately he and other students jumped into action, locking the door and staying out of sight. He said, “I was just trying to make sure we were safe and we could all see our parents when it was over,” he said. Luckily, the students in his classroom were able to stay in contact with their teacher and get updates on the situation, and about 45 minutes in they realized there was no armed threat. Baybeck and his classmates were evacuated by Golden P.D. from his classroom at approximately 9:45 A.M. He said the most eerie part of the whole thing was walking the halls during the evacuation in total silence. In reference to students who took charge, Templeton told the Trident, 

“I couldn’t be more proud of the students and staff.” 

Junior Juliana Oleskevich was in an art classroom for her jewelry class first period when the lockdown announcement rang through the building. Oleskevich was lucky enough to be in a class with a friend, and so she felt less scared and alone, but the lack of information about the circumstances was still unsettling. Eventually the kids in her room knew that the threat, if there was one, had been dealt with and everybody was safe. Not having her phone during the lockdown, Oleskevich had little to inform her. She eventually knew everything was okay, but before that she wished that she had had access to it to communicate with her family about what was going on. Her friends, likewise, were worried about her because she wasn’t answering her phone. 

This raises the question of the current phone policy. As we know, students are expected to place their phones in the phone pockets, phone tree, phone apartment, whatever teachers decide to call it, at the beginning of class. Multiple students did not have their phones for hours as they sat on their classroom floors in silence, and then were unable to retrieve it until the school was fully searched. Students were informed they could come pick up their belongings a few hours after students were released, but many kids were not able to contact their parents even after the lockdown was lifted. 

Students were left without communication and without rides while the building was being cleared by police and off limits to students. They were unable to communicate with family, friends, and loved ones for hours. So what happens next time? What if there is real danger? Should our school still be able to confiscate our phones despite the emergency?

Of course this affected more than just the students. Many teachers have also had experiences with school shootings. Mrs. Hasse, for one, is one of Golden’s history teachers, who has most unfortunately had experience in this situation. Though she herself was not in a school shooting, one of her students was tragically killed while protecting his classmates during the STEM school shooting in 2019. This event has shaped Mrs. Hasse as a person and as a teacher. Mrs. Hasse says her initial reaction was just to jump into action. She says that because of her experiences she felt she was not as caught off guard and unfortunately it is something she thinks about often. Fortunately many of her students had made it to the classroom, and she did not have to worry about where too many of them were. Hasse says she is grateful that Golden reacted as professionally and swiftly as they did, because of this she began to realize that the threat had been somewhat neutralized. Mrs. Hasse says that by the time they realized they would be in their classroom for a while, she crawled over to the phone tree and distributed her students’ phones. Hasse’s students were able to text their family and friends soon into the lockdown. Hasse said, “If it were my son in that situation I would want him to have his phone.” Mrs. Hasse has continued to show that she cares for her students and always will. Golden remains forever grateful for teachers like Mrs. Hasse. The staff during this time fully stepped into their roles and helped their students as much as they could. Teachers took precautions, barricading doors, bracing students, and adding comfort to an unknown situation. Everyone handled this situation differently, but everybody did their best with the limited information that they had.

If there is one thing to be taken from this day, it is that the Golden community remains one of the strongest. The way that the school responded to even the possibility of a threat is something that we should all take pride in. The staff, police, parents, and most importantly the students each played their roles in a situation that was as dangerous as this. The Golden community did the most vital thing it could, stayed calm. Together we were able to maintain a safe environment in a horrifying and stressful situation. We are so proud of you Demons!