Bomb - A New Untold Story, Featuring Nick and KB: Episode 304

Lauren Barrett

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During the 2001-2002 school year, I was in the 7th grade at my Catholic grade school. For reference, Nick was in 4th grade, and Kyle was in 3rd. That year, an incident so profound and prolific occurred during a winter that had been laden with snow. It hijacked our small town community’s sense of security and forever shaped us during such formative years. Our school’s tight-knit foundation came crumbling to the ground. This event was so paramount in nature that I had to pen my grandma, who lived in New Jersey, just 30 miles outside of New York City, to inform her of this terrible occurrence and ask if she had ever heard of anything so shocking, striking a city, let alone a nation. 

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The SVS bomb threat terrorized faculty and students for over a week. Making front page headlines in the local paper, The Wheeling Intelligencer, the threats baffled law enforcement’s intellect and made the student body question whether they were playing for the bush league rather than the actual police force. 

Now, 23 years later, thanks to a committee of hardworking individuals, we have been able to unearth a detailed timeline starting with the day the bomb threats started appearing. This declassified information has been gathered from primary and secondary sources that include eyewitness accounts, journal entries, interviews, security footage, and newspaper articles. I’ll take you on a never-before recounting of that day and the fallout that arose out of the debris left behind in the weeks to come.

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Friday, February 8, 2002

8:00 AM - First to arrive, Nicholas Turani, a 4th grader at SVS, settles into his 5th row seat right next to the aisle. Having arrived early and way ahead of the bell, he takes out the class syllabus, class rules, and expectations, and reads them again, even though this is the 113th day of school. He can never be too prepared. 

8:25 AM - Meanwhile, Lauren Barrett (me) adjusts in her 4th row chair in Literature Class and stares out the window, ready for a smooth class ahead of her. Her regular teacher, Ms. Ruralink, is out for the day. A substitute teacher, Ms. Glanzer, takes over the controls for the class.

8:25 AM - Simultaneously, Kyle Bauer, a 3rd grader at SVS and brother of Lauren, flops down into his middle row seat in the first row. Always the most petite, he’s usually made to sit in the middle. He takes out his notebook and pen and begins sketching the nascent city of New Platson.

8:30 AM - The principal, Sr. Kathleen, comes over the intercom and leads the students in a school-wide prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. She instructs everyone to take a seat in the upright position, with lunch trays returned to the cafeteria, and stow all backpacks away. 

8:32 AM - 1st Period class takes off. There are 205 students and 25 faculty members inside the airy and crafty school.

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​L​auren Barrett is a multi-passionate mom working to help all people become their best selves and build positive relationships with the people around them. She has a degree in deaf education and a Master’s in Reading Education. She is a high school teacher of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, a former cross country coach, a writer/author, and a full time mom to an amazing 6-year old and 5-month old. Lauren is a 3x author, including children’s book,Henry’s Hiccups, and parenting guide Now What? Mindful Checklists for Life’s Hard Parenting Moments. She is a blogger at Lauren Barrett Writes. Currently, she is grieving her loving mom’s unexpected death and devoting her time to helping people learn about grief, insomnia, and anxiety in honor of her mom. She loves her faith, running, visiting MLB stadiums with her husband, chocolate, scrapbooking, pretending she would actually do well on the Amazing Race, re-watching The Office, listening to Bobby Bones, and helping out all moms. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, James, and son, Henry. Follow her on her blog and get her free kind for sleep and anxiety, Stress Free Sleep.