Written by: Ryan McKinnon, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
(TNS) – Amber Rylak was pushing the screaming stranger with all her weight, trying to keep him out of her classroom at Emma E. Booker Elementary School.
Behind her, a class of second-graders had crowded into the corner, while the man who seemed to be on drugs was struggling with her, trying to get into the room.
“He just kept screaming, ‘They are going to kill me, they are going to kill me,’” Rylak recalled. “He was foaming at the mouth. He was a big man, maybe 250 pounds.”
Rylak was all that stood between her students and the stranger on the campus. It was Aug. 31, and the 120-pound, 30-year-old PE teacher had been wrapping up that morning’s class when she heard a bus horn honking incessantly.
It was longtime bus drive Lisa Stephens, frantically trying to alert someone that a man had snuck in the gate behind her bus.
The tense confrontation in the summer led to commendations from law enforcement and the School Board recently for their willingness to put themselves between students and potential harm, despite the risks. Strangers on campus aren’t unheard of — people sometimes hop the fence and cross the grounds as a shortcut to a nearby convenience store. But this stranger was clearly in the throes of a mental emergency, observers said.
Security footage from the incident shows the man staggering through the school corridors. Rylak blows her whistle, and begins running for safety with her students into a classroom, when the man set his eyes on Rylak’s class of second-graders and began chasing after them.
The last child got into the room just as the man got to the door, triggering the standoff between Rylak and the stranger.
Fortunately, Rylak’s trusted teacher’s aide, Jackie Mendolia, was still in the corridor. After calling on her radio for help, she grabbed the man and began fighting with him, trying to drag him away from the door.
Mendolia wasn’t worried about what would happen if she succeeded and pulled him out of the doorway, potentially leaving her alone with the stranger. Her main goal was to get him away from the kids.
“I’d be happy with that because I can run,” she said. “I may be short and chubby, but I can run.”
The pair struggled with the stranger, keeping him out of the classroom for more than a minute while they waited for help.
The man kept saying men with guns were trying to kill him, so as she shoved him, Rylak was looking over his shoulder, wondering if the pursuers were a figment of his imagination or about to appear.
“It felt like the longest two minutes,” Rylak said. “I was thinking, “I don’t know how much longer I can hold him.’ So I was like, ‘Kids run to the cafeteria.’”
Behavior specialist Robin Williams saw what was happening and managed to get between Rylak and the man, and he was soon joined by School Resource Officer Anthony Pelopida, who detained the man before taking him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he was committed under the state’s Baker Act for mental health assistance.
Mendolia, Rylak and Stephens all received certificates of recognition commending them for their bravery from Sarasota Schools Police Chief Tim Enos at the Dec. 7 Sarasota County School Board meeting.
“Jackie Mendolia and Amber Rylak should be commended for their bravery and placing themselves directly into harm’s way,” the honor from Enos states. “These actions, when not knowing if the individual was armed or what true danger he posed, are incredibly brave…”
Rylak thought she was fine after the incident, but the next day it was raining and she had to bring her PE class to the same classroom where they hid the previous day.
When a substitute teacher, being escorted by Officer Pelopida, knocked on the door, the previous day’s chaos came flooding back to Rylak.
She began crying, and that marked the beginning of a rough period of nightmares, anxiety and dreading coming to a job she previously loved.
Since then, Rylak has begun therapy, doing Barre Yoga and mentoring some students in crisis at the school. She takes them on outings after school and on weekends, a new routine that helps her cope.
“They really help me be happy,” she said.
While her 90-second standoff is something she would prefer to forget, it’s given Rylak new appreciation for emergency preparedness. During the chaotic scene, the students reverted to the protocol they have practiced during lockdown drills, running into the corner of the room and remaining in place.
Now, she has a vivid life experience to share with classes that may not take the drills seriously otherwise.
“I give them a whole speech and make them practice being quiet,” she said. “We say, ‘you never know.’ I’m definitely a little bit paranoid.”
Plus, after being honored by Chief Enos and the School Board, Rylak and Mendolia are trying to leverage their heroism for some new PE equipment.
Rylak used to work in Princeton, New Jersey, where her budget for new supplies was $5,000. At Emma E. Booker, she had $75 to work with.
Rylak and Mendolia have written about the experience to Ellen DeGeneres, the talk show host known to recognize teachers and everyday heroes, hoping that DeGeneres will hook them up with some fresh sports equipment.
Regardless of whether the incident leads to new supplies, as she and Mendolia work together every day, they have a deeper trust and bond.
“On that day we were more than a good team. We were family,” she said at the Dec. 7 board meeting.
“That’s one of the main reasons I love working at Emma E. Booker. We are family. You can’t pick them. They might get on your nerves every once and a while, but when you really need them, when push comes to shove, they are there for you.”
Ryan McKinnon covers schools for the Herald-Tribune. Connect with him at ryan.mckinnon@heraldtribune.com or on Twitter: @JRMcKinnon. Support the Sarasota Herald-Tribune by subscribing today.
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