Runner

"We have a runner!"

Anyone who has ever worked in the field of Special Education knows what it means to hear those words and feel your heart stop.

On Friday I was on a field trip to Creamer's Field with a group of students I work with. These students are typically over 18 and are in a program that focuses on life skills for working towards independent living and/or job training. They have a wide range of abilities, some of the students are non-verbal, and in general require supervision of some sort.

So there we were walking the trails at Creamer's when one of the students yelled, "we have a runner!" I was coming around a bend and couldn't see what was ahead. Instantly I thought one of the students had taken off and we had an escapee.

As I turned the corner, a woman jogged passed me. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was an actual runner. Someone just out for a daily run. Whew!