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A LETTER FROM CHRIS JOFFE ANNOUNCING OUR NEWEST ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER
I’m honored to announce that Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell has joined the Joffe Advisory Board, effective July 1, 2025.
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I’m honored to announce that Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell has joined the Joffe Advisory Board, effective July 1, 2025.
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A guide to building calm, confident, and safe campuses In a school emergency, what happens in the first few moments can shape everything that...
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Author: Cat - mom, school ops leader, and national crisis responder For the last several years, I’ve had the honor of serving as Managing Director of...
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What You'll Learn... In this blog, you’ll learn from a real-world experience during the Los Angeles wildfires, where the Incident Command System...
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As immigration enforcement continues to be a prominent concern in the United States, many school professionals are asking: “Should we do ICE drills?”...
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Pop Quiz: When do most schools schedule fire drills? Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Why? It’s one of the most predictable times of the day—after breakfast,...
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Hi, my name is Olivia. I have been a Joffe Safety Consultant for the last two and a half years while finishing my doctorate in public health, which...
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Why Participate in the Great ShakeOut? The Great ShakeOut is the world’s largest earthquake drill, and it’s designed to be more than a simple...
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New York state's recent ban on realistic lockdown drills is a significant victory - a step toward much-needed reform in how we conduct safety drills....
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Each new year brings fresh beginnings, and with it, the responsibility to ensure our schools remain safe and secure havens for learning. The unique...
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Creating a safe and nurturing learning environment has always been a priority for schools. With a holistic view of school safety, Joffe Emergency...
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As meteorologists predict an exceptionally active hurricane season in 2024, schools must prioritize preparedness to ensure the safety and continuity...
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As summer approaches, many schools prepare to welcome students for summer school, camps, and other enrichment programs. While these programs offer...
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In mid-April, an 18-year-old Maryland student was arrested and charged with threatening mass violence at a school after authorities were informed of...
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In a recent discovery by Campus Safety Magazine, a cybersecurity researcher unearthed a disconcerting reality: school shooting emergency plans were...
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At Joffe, we recognize the importance of proactive measures to prevent workplace violence in schools. That's why we're excited to introduce our...
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As school leaders, organizing successful after-school events goes beyond just ensuring smooth logistics and exciting games. Safety and security are...
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Picture this: a parent receives a text notification that their child's school is on lockdown. With no further communication, their mind begins to...
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On May 24, 2022, a horrific event unfolded at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, shattering the lives of families and communities forever. An...
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During Alaska Airlines Flight 1282's departure from Portland, Oregon on January 5th, a plane door's plug unexpectedly disconnected as the aircraft...
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Unlocking Diversity in Emergency Response Plans In my work as a school safety consultant, I typically review five or more school emergency response...
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Protecting Your Students and Devices during Winter Break Over the past decade, but especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, technology in...
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Metal Detectors in Schools – Rumors, Claims and Myths
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Every school’s first priority is keeping staff and students safe. But in a world where safety threats are becoming more frequent, schools must...
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When planning Halloween celebrations in schools, it's vital to prioritize health and safety to ensure a fun and risk-free event for all students and...
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According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), there were more than 1600 earthquakes of a 5.0 or higher magnitude in 2019, resulting in...
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As we eagerly approach the upcoming school year, Joffe Academy is proud to introduce our new Safety Committees and Advanced Planning Toolkit. This...
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Recently, on a cloudless 85-degree day, my husband and I were with a group of friends and their kids sitting around a friend’s pool in our home city...
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Analysis of the tragic wildfires that impacted Maui last week is already part of the national conversation. In the aftermath of a disaster, it is not...
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Did you know that many of the general best practices for a strong start to the school year support BOTH a strong, joyful school culture AND safety...
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Over the years, we’ve watched many schools navigate leadership transitions. From Heads of School and Principals to APs and Deans, changing leaders...
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This time of year is never short on to do’s for school leaders and administrators! Whether you’re trying to triage your current list of projects, or...
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The shooting at The Covenant School in Tennessee on Monday, March 27, 2023, was our nation’s deadliest K-12 school shooting in nearly a year. As...
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It’s springtime, which means the new school year is just around the corner. As you’re jumping into planning for the 2023-24 year, it’s a great time...
2022 was an exciting year of growth for the Joffe team, enabling us to help keep communities safe across the nation. Take a look at just a few of...
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2022 is officially a wrap! As we look ahead to the 2023 calendar year, lessons and trends from the past 12 months can shed light on what may be in...
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Making sure students are both physically and emotionally safe on the best of days can be a full time job for teachers and school leaders. It can...
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The term “tripledemic” recently became part of our vocabulary. Why? Because the winter of 2023 is anticipated to bring a triple threat to public...
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Dr. Jasmin Whitfield joined the Joffe team in July as our Director of School Health Services. Her 20 years of experience in health has prepared her...
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Our team was recently on the ground in St. Louis, MO when a former student opened fire at a local high school — Central Visual and Performing Arts...
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If your school has hired a contract company to provide campus security services, you likely asked yourself an important question when making your...
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In the school safety world, we often talk about “risk assessments” and “threat assessments” as important tools to keep communities safe. To be sure,...
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Over the past few weeks, the monkeypox virus has been spreading quickly, prompting a recent wave of public health emergency declarations at the...
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It’s August, which means back-to-school season has officially begun. Whether you’ve already welcomed students back onto campus, or you’re knee-deep...
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The Joffe Team is proud and delighted to introduce our Board of Advisors. Composed of distinguished professionals spanning the education, health, law...
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School nursing isn’t what it used to be. Routine activities like lice screenings and keeping health records updated are still very necessary, yet the...
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In recent years, cyberattacks have been getting both more frequent and more sophisticated. From Aug. 14 to Sept. 12, 2021, educational organizations...
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Last Friday, CDC issued new mask guidance that revises the criteria by which communities - including schools - should consider wearing masks. The...
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The recent news of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine is shaking many of our communities. Students and staff alike are likely grappling with a mix of...
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The world has changed quite a bit since February 14, 2018, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida endured a senseless and...
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Next month will mark the two-year anniversary of the WHO’s declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic. Two years in, we’re beginning to see...
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Wondering what the new year might bring? Here’s our best (educated) guess about what schools will face in 2022. It’s paired with our best advice for...
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The calendar year is coming to a close, but we are far from the end of the road when it comes to student behavior challenges. While the winter break...
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Since it began trending in mid-September 2021, the “TikTok Schools Challenge” has put educators and school staff on alert. The challenges provide...
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A few months into the year, we’re battling an uptick in fights and weapons that’s causing a wave of fear and anxiety across campuses. At the same...
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Emergency notification systems have been in widespread use since the early 1950s when CONELRAD was developed and put into place. This nationwide...
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What are Allergic Reactions? As defined by the Mayo Clinic, an allergy is “when your immune system reacts to a foreign substance...or a food that...
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We sat down with our director of Get CPR Done, Felicia Gonsalez, to talk about the impact that the pandemic has had on CPR training.
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CPR is one of the most basic and essential first aid and emergency response skills to know. According to Felicia Gonsalez, our director for Get CPR...
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The next topic of our At-A-Glance series is the next most direct and simple emergency to handle: a fire on campus.
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Lockdowns are scenarios in which campus is called to stop all movement on and off of campus because of a direct or nearby threat to staff and/or...
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One of the challenges that parents have shared about the continued pandemic is the issue of how to maintain proper relationships and socialization...
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Through the experience of supporting schools throughout the U.S. and now the world, Joffe has learned a thing or two about emergency management and...
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We sat down this week with our Director of Emergency Management, Hope Kaye. Hope has been involved in emergency services for five years, having...
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My last marathon was March 8, right before Covid-19 shifted our day to day lives in ways many never anticipated. Because it was my last “normal” day,...
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We sat down with Emily, the Health Coordinator for an Independent School in the Bay Area in California, to talk about how the pandemic has affected...
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During times of particular challenge within our greater community, we've experienced civil unrest. During those times, it can be helpful to have...
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Kitchen Safety During the Holidays
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The 2020 American presidential election is set to take place on November 3, but early voting has already begun in most states. Given the current...
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A note from the co-authors: This blog arises from partnership between Joffe Emergency Services and Experiential Consulting, LLC. It’s a pleasure to...
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Having reached a point in the year where many large holidays are quickly looming on the horizon, questions have begun to arise about the best...
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In any given election year, October is a busy one. Election and candidate information dominate the news cycle. We are bombarded by positive and...
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With 330 million people living and working in the United States, a major earthquake could cause unprecedented devastation. What we do now, before a...
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What Is This About? We're often asked about where we get the latest Covid-19 Information. Below, we're sharing with y'all a quick summary of some of...
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Every decision a school makes centers on this equation - is this what’s best for the community? Of course, it’s a complex world and these decisions...
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If you’ve engaged with any Joffe resources, articles, or blog posts in the last year, there’s a good chance you read something about wildfires. We...
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The American School Health Association (ASHA) is an international organization that has spent almost a century assisting schools in their mission to...
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Automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, are one of the most essential tools that school communities have to keep their people safe. As a brief...
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Privacy has always been a challenge and concern for schools, even before every single individual on campus began carrying powerful technology in...
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From our perspective, the most important goal or element in effective school safety protocols is knowing exactly who is on campus at any given time....
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At least for me, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as checking off items on my to-do list. The size or relative importance of the task isn’t the...
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It is absolutely normal to be concerned about things that are statistically unlikely to happen. Anyone watching me white-knuckle the armrest during...
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We’ve written before about how recovering from emergencies can be a long, complicated process. The hard work of rebuilding a campus and/or a...
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Leading your school community through its recovery from an emergency or crisis is a long, long process. One of the challenges is navigating through...
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Emergency drills have become a controversial or at least widely discussed topic in school safety for a myriad of reasons. If done purposelessly or...
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I feel lucky to have grown up where I grew up. My high school, Charles D. Owen High (Go Warhorses!) is nestled in the Swannanoa Valley, surrounded by...
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As an expert in the field of school emergency preparedness, I must share the shame, disappointment, and frustration I felt after hearing how teachers...
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Hey. We're proud of you. Take a moment to appreciate the hard work you've done on the path to emergency preparation and school safety. (If you know...
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Lockdown drills are a necessary part of any good school safety plan. Knowing what to do in an emergency (and having practiced it enough to be able to...
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In our field of school safety and emergency preparedness, we often deal with people who are feeling high levels of stress, anxiety, and fear. While...
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If this is the only school safety blog you belong to, (and hey, more power to you if it isn't!) you may have missed the state of Michigan's School...
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We aren't breaking any news when we note that the recovery process following a disaster is a long and complex process. Schools and communities will...
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When your home, school, office, or other space is impacted by a fire, the desire to rebuild is strong. The first step of restoration, cleaning up,...
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Over the past few years, a positive consensus seems to have developed. The core of that consensus is that we must find ways to protect our schools...
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Just as you expect from your community safety blog post, today starts with a poem from the American author Mary Oliver (Hey, it's Friday, right?). We...
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One of the major ways Joffe Emergency Services supports our school partners throughout the country is by providing CPR and First Aid training and...
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Perhaps the title of this blog post sacrificed some clarity for the sake of alliteration, so here's what it's about. One of the more common injuries...
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We often talk about safety preparation at Joffe, and for good reason. Preparation allows for people to make confident, correct decisions in a...
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Your school's supply shed is filled with all of the emergency supplies needed to keep campus functioning for up to 72 hours following a disaster or...
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One of the most important elements to the Joffe approach to school safety is our belief that necessary safety improvements are more likely to stick...
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As the school year picks back up at its typical leisurely pace (a joke!), we’re welcoming smiling faces back to campus, both familiar and brand-new....
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I stumbled upon a great article recently that got me thinking about school safety. Now, that may have been because I’m always thinking about school...
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Our summer safety series rolls on, this time touching on the bane of many a parent’s foot on a dark night - toys. The organization World Against Toys...
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Our summer safety tips roll on with a (verbal) trip to one of the best ways to beat the heat-the water! We know that the summer is one of the more...
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Driving an automobile, like many of the tasks we do daily and unthinkingly while overlooking the complexity, is performed through numerous smaller...
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A recent article in the National Business Officers Association’s (NBOA) NetAssets magazine (an excellent resource for independent schools around the...
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To be completely honest with you, the reader, I was anxious when I was tasked with writing this post. The goal was to share my thoughts on a story...
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As students across the nation prepare to walk out of schools on March 14, we stand ready to receive their message. Regardless of your school’s...
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There are many devices on the market that can increase security in a lockdown situation. Finding the right solution for your campus will take...
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If you live in Hawaii, last weekend you experienced quite a scare… Maybe if you live anywhere. As many of you know there was a false alarm sent out...
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Woah, that’s a new term. Let’s start at the beginning: The Incident Command System is a program developed to manage emergencies and most importantly,...
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The last month of the year has so many meanings for different communities. In business, it is often a time to set goals and financials for the coming...
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That’s a question we get a lot about our emergency line. First, some context: Being a responsible partner in safety, means having a process in place...
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As September comes to an end, it wraps up with National Preparedness Month. This is a national campaign dealing with an actual disaster. Visit their...
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Based on national statistics, approximately 30,000 people will die in vehicular accidents this year, with many of those accidents involving teenage...
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Mylan, the maker of EpiPens, made headlines in August 2016 for the increased pricing of the most popular medication delivery device sold to treat...
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Someone forwarded me this email, titled “Lockdown Averted”. You may be thinking that’s crazy. Maybe you’re even thinking, “why am I still reading...
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Last month I was visiting my parents in Texas. My mother asked me if I could pick up my nephew from school and of course I was happy to oblige. I...