Wednesday morning started off like any other at Sallie Zetterower Elementary School.
    Teachers and students were in class, office staffers were performing routine tasks, and a couple of parents signed in their children late.
    The routine was interrupted by sharp, repetitive siren blasts throughout the building shortly after 8:30 a.m. — about 40 minutes after school began. Teachers calmly led their students out of the classrooms and into the hallways, where the youngsters quickly knelt on the floor and put their heads down and placed their hands over their heads.
    A few minutes later, the siren blasts stopped, and teachers guided their students back into class to resume the school day. The tornado drill was over.
    On Wednesday, as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency encouraged Georgians to participate in a statewide tornado drill. Bulloch County Schools took part — earlier than the suggested 9 a.m. start — so principals could participate before attending the school system’s weekly principals’ meeting.
     “It was easy, but you have to do it to be safe,” said Leah Williford, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Sallie Z., describing previous drills before the one Wednesday. “All you do is kind of roll up, put your hands over your head just to keep your head safe if anything was blowing around.”
    Her father, Principal Todd Williford, recalled a line of tornados in southern Bulloch County several years ago, which drives home the importance of the drills for him.
    “We probably spent at least half of the day back and forth in classrooms because of that,” he said. “It just helps prepare the students so they know what the procedures are. It helps everything run much more smoothly and that we can keep the students safe.”
    Marianna Voiselle, a third-grade teacher at Sallie Z., has been through more than her share of tornado drills in more than 20 years of teaching. But it doesn’t get old for her.
    “The more you practice, the more comfortable you become with the procedures,” she said. “It enhances safety. The children know what to do, the teachers know what to do, and I think it creates for a safer environment at school or at home.”
   
    Jason Wermers may be reached at (912) 489-9431.