Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis was 29 years old and was with her first-grade students when she heard the first shots at Sandy Hook.
Without wasting time, she led her 15 students into a tiny, single-person bathroom inside the classroom, blocked the entrance, and asked them for absolute silence. Convinced that they might not survive, she told them something she wanted them to remember: that she loved them very much.
She did not even open the door when she heard that the police were outside. Fearing it might be a trap, she demanded that they get a key and be the ones to open it. All 15 children got out alive.
Months later, the parents organized a reunion between Kaitlin and her students. She would eventually leave teaching, but that class remained united forever by a morning in which her quick reaction helped save them. ❤️🩹