A Rural Arizona School Superintendent’s Experience at Gunsite Academy

Dear Gunsite Family,   My name is Angela Jangula and I am the superintendent at Cañon Elementary School District #50 in Black Canyon City, Arizona. I believe I have one of the most important jobs in the world that involves our most precious cargo…kids. Cañon is a small, rural school and it often takes law enforcement, fire departments, and other individuals at least 15-20 minutes (minimum) to respond on campus to an emergency call. This is nobody’s fault, just a reality of rural schools. Does this concern me? Yes, it does. Think about all the “what if’s.” What if there is an active shooter? What if a student gets irate? What if there is a drugged-out person on campus? You get the idea. There are countless other “what if’s” out there and you can’t dwell on them, but what I can say as a superintendent for almost 7 years is, yes, I have had guns on campus, irate students and parents I needed to call the cops for, dealt with bomb (false) threats at the High School, and have had to call lockdowns for escaped criminals in town.  Most of the time the threat has nothing to do directly with the school, but something else going on in an individual’s life that has made them unhappy. However, the threat of danger is out there and I want to help keep my students, staff, and community safe.   Enter Gunsite’s Scholarship for Superintendents.  Below is a short account of my journey before, during, and after the Defensive 250 Pistol Class at Gunsite.   About 6 months ago, a board member gave me the information for Gunsite, and I followed up on it because I agreed with Gunsite’s view that today’s school violence is saddening.  I even visited Gunsite a few months prior to see what I was getting myself into. Sure, I shot a gun a little as a kid and a few times as an adult, but not without help or supervision. Sheriff Ken Campbell (RET.), the Chief Operating Officer, explained the mission of Gunsite and assured me I could do the class. I finally bit the bullet, and signed up for a class this last September.   Oh my! Come September, I entered the classroom on the first day and there were about 30 individuals. Mostly male. I was pretty excited to see two other females (we were called the roses), but little did I know that I would not be joining them. After an hour-long introduction class in which I wrote notes ferociously because I seemed to be the only person who didn’t know the four rules of safety and what the difference was between a magazine and clip, I was put in a group of 15 men with three male instructors. Eek! What was I doing? I don’t know much about guns or shooting. Maybe I could hide in a pretty batch of sunflowers all week and nobody would notice me.   Well let me tell you, Gunsite Rangemaster Charlie McNeese and the other instructors, Steve Temerlin and Joe Nassetta, were not going to let me hide. There was no picking daisies allowed and everyone was treated as an equal. Once we headed to the square range, we spent the day doing basic shooting drills. By gum, I even hit the target pretty well. Charlie worked with me to get rid of my itchy trigger pull and I improved rapidly from there on out. My new teammates complimented me and showed me full support and encouragement. At the end of the first day, the thought occurred to me that, “I could do this!”   The next few days we did more shooting, malfunction drills: reloading, pivots, the Mental Conditioning lecture, and more shooting. My confidence level improved by the hour and our cadre bonded to the point I knew I made a bunch of life-long friends that I trusted completely.   On the fourth day we had to do outside and inside simulations.  Joe Nassetta was my indoor simulator instructor. Imagine a man that is 6’6 looking down on you (me being 5’5) with his hands on his hips, mustache tweaked to the side and cop glasses glaring in the sun. He asked me if I was ready to do the indoor simulation. Was he crazy? Heck, no I wasn’t ready. I was terrified. The day before he had told us clearing a building is awful and everything bad you can think of. Nope, nope, nope. I was not ready. I told him I was terrified. He asked me why I was afraid. I explained my aforementioned thoughts.  He then blatantly communicated to me not to be scared and he would be right there with me and the unspoken words of “get your butt in there and do the job” hung between us. So, I entered the building and did my simulation. He literally had to tell me to breathe at one point and I stepped on him backing up from a door, but I did finish. My shooting wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t kill the good guy. Ya! But pretty much everything else was not good. Thankfully, Mr. Nassetta is a direct and able instructor and I used his input to learn from my mistakes.   Next, I did the wash. All I have to say is thank goodness Steve Temerlin is a man of patience. I worked my way through the wash, and the only good things I can say about my performance was that, again, I didn’t shoot the good guy and I didn’t slip and fall on any rocks. When I finished the simulation, Steve tried to make it a positive that I was very hesitant and didn’t want to kill anyone unknowingly because I care about human life and then he very strategically pointed out how I would have died like 10 different times because I was too timid and every bad guy would have shot me. Oops. He did a fantastic job of letting me know I did terrible, but I could fix it. I took every word to heart and internally focused on how to do it right.   After the simulation, we gaggled up and I learned many of my peers had all the same faults I did. I wasn’t alone in this learning process and we were all honing our skills together.   The last day of the academy was the best. We did our final shooting test and final simulators. By now, I enjoyed shooting at the range and the challenge of making myself better. I did the wash first. In comparison, the previous day to this day were completely different. My confidence level sky rocketed and I made much better decisions as I did the simulation. At the end, Steve took a moment to tell me I had come the farthest of anyone in the class and he was very proud of that. On my way to the dreaded shoot house, Joe met me with that same steely glare and we entered the house. I’m pretty sure Joe laughed on the inside when I bumped into a bookcase and I perhaps breathed a very minor expletive, but other than that it went much smoother. At the end was a surprise, which I won’t give away, but Joe was able to walk me through it and I aced it! I don’t think my grin could’ve been any bigger than when I finished the house. My failure became my accomplishment--but there is still room for improvement.   We wrapped up the day with a shootout competition and graduation. At our ceremony, Charlie McNeese introduced me and told the graduating class that I was in education and he discussed how important children are and how he was gratified to know that I was learning about school safety and working to better protect our children. Cloud nine took me away as Charlie let me know I earned my marksmanship and he gave me a giant hug while my cadre clapped proudly.  I might have even had a happy tear or two in my eyes.   Later that night, as I reluctantly left Gunsite, I pondered what I learned in this week. The realization that I actually had a blast and the course literally changed who I was hit me hard. In one week, I became a competent pistol handler, practical marksman and had a new mindset and awareness of my close surroundings. I see the world a little differently, for example, I will never look down to check the time on my wristwatch again. When I walk in my school hallways and I am at a corner I automatically take in “slices of the pie” at a time to make sure it is safe. Please don’t think this means I sit around and wonder about the “what  if’s” that can happen or that I walk through the grocery store like I’m on a secret military mission and do a ninja roll to grab my box of pasta on the bottom shelf…I’m not that graceful. My mindset hasn’t changed my carefree and humorous attitude; it simply has made me more aware. That night as I finally made it to Black Canyon City and met my dad for a pizza slice, I showed him my certificate. He looked at me square in the eye and said, “I knew you would do it, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.” And guess what? He was right and that was the best pizza ever!   My experiences at Gunsite were top-notch and life-altering. I am grateful for my instructors Charlie, Steve and Joe and the men in my faction. They will always hold a fond place in my heart. A big cheers also goes to Gunsmith Mike Moore, to the all the staff at Gunsite, Ken Campbell and the Coopers. Thank you for providing me with this unique, unforgettable and precious experience.   I encourage all superintendents, board presidents, and any responsible citizen that believes in their 2^nd Amendment rights to take the 250 Defensive Pistol Class. The experience brings to the table valuable ideas and ways to keep our kids safe in our schools and communities. There is much more we can do, and we need to work on it now. I would be delighted to speak with anyone that has questions, ideas, and thoughts on school safety or wants more insight on my experience.   Thank you (from one of your class roses), Ms. Angela E. Jangula CESD #50 Superintendent  

Angela Jangula, 250 Defensive Pistol Class, September 17-21, 2018, Gunsite, Paulden, AZ

Take Me Back Where I Was