Recess Scare

Today we took the kids outside early, because the sky was threatening to open up. Immediately upon hitting the playground we hear kids screaming "snake." This is a word no teacher wants to hear. The other teacher and I try to run off the group of gathering children. They all want to see the snake. We have to threaten the kids with a trip to the principal to get them to back away. She says to me, "that snake might be poisonous, look at his markings." My heart is racing at this point. We call the office and just as the snake is raising up and heading towards the kids the custodian showed up with a shovel. I can't even imagine what would have happened if a child would have been bitten.