For the second time this year all of the schools of the I.S.I. in Barga was evacuated as the students and teachers took part in a simulated earthquake exercise.
The first time in January (article here) it happened on a freezing cold day with the students definitely feeling the rigours of winter as they stood patiently outside their schools waiting to go back into their warm classrooms.
Today was entirely a different affair as the wonderful spring weather made it a perfect excuse to stand in the sun and enjoy being way from their studies.
Plus, it wasn’t just a case of counting heads, preparing lists and then re -entering the school – no, today there much more excitement in the air as part of the simulation included one whole class being trapped on the first floor of the building and unable to use the stairs to evacuate were instead being pulled out of the window and launched down an escape rope set up for the occasion by the Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico.
A huge cheer for the assembled students went up as the first of the classmates was winched down to safety but it was nothing compared to when the Head of the school, Prof.ssa Giovanna Mannelli appeared on the window ledge and slid down the rope “to safety”, followed minutes later by the teacher Roberto Valiensi.
