Sandy Hook Kaitlin Roig - Deeper Look

Video Transcript:

MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC APPLAUSE It was only in the morning when the shots rang out. Your classroom was the first classroom at the school that the government would have seen. Did you know what was happening at the time? Absolutely. It was 9.30 in the morning on our Friday. And our classroom was in such close proximity to what we were hearing. But there was not a second of hesitation or a moment that I wondered what it was. I knew that it was a gun. And I knew that our only option at attempting to survive was hiding. But you have little children. I mean, how did you... I mean, you reacted. But how did you persuade them to do as you said? Well, my students were six and seven for skaters. And children are very smart and they're very aware, very intuitive of what's happening. So they might not have known that it was a gun or a weapon. But they knew that what they were hearing was evil. And that when I said we needed to hide, that that was our chance at survival. And so they listened absolutely immediately. If we were going to attempt to survive, we had to hide and fast. I immediately got up and closed the door. I turned off the lights. My keys were clear across the classroom and my desk. And I knew I did not have seconds to retrieve them. Our classroom door remained unnoticed. I turned to my students and I said we need to get into our bathroom right now. My students began protesting. But you had little children. I mean, how did you... I mean, you reacted. You persuade them to do what you said. Well, my students were six and seven for skaters. And children are very smart and they're very aware, very intuitive of what's happening. So they might not have known that it was a gun or a weapon. But they knew that what they were hearing was evil. And that when I said we needed to hide, that that was our chance at survival. And so they listened absolutely immediately. I turned to my students and I said we need to get into our bathroom right now. I stand in the air protesting. You serious? I began my sixth year at Sandy Hook. Happier than I had ever been. I had just gotten engaged over the summer and life and its possibilities seemed truly endless. Anyone who has been engaged to marry the love of your life knows that it is a daily countdown. 352, 264, 180. On December 14, 2012, that countdown came to a screeching halt. That morning I awoke ready to tackle the day. It was Friday, the weekend, lay in front of me. As I hurried to leave, something stopped me in my tracks and I looked out over the water as the sun began rising peacefully. I put down my gym bag, my lunch, and my keys. I grabbed my phone, I went over to the slider, pausing in awe of its beauty. I snapped a few pictures of that gorgeous sight, even more excited to start my day, I rushed out the door. Not even three hours later inside the walls of Sandy Hook Elementary, that sense of peace, common happiness was forever changed. As my students and I sat in morning meeting, greeting one another as we do every day, loud rapid fire shots began over and over and over. As my students and I sat in morning meeting, greeting one another as we do every morning, loud rapid fire shots began over and over and over. As my classroom was the first in the building, I knew immediately that what I was hearing was a semi automatic weapon. Building, I knew immediately that what I was hearing was a semi automatic weapon. Building, I knew immediately that what I was hearing was a semi automatic weapon. This look and explore just briefly the three most common types of actions of handguns. First of all, the single action. This is an old cold single action army and you'll see this single action in some modern replicas of these guns and the ruggers and any gun that looks like this is probably single action. Not necessarily, but most of them are. I must cock the hammer all the way back. It turns the cylinder, rings another round under the hammer. Double action. This is a fairly common type of revolver, old police revolver, the other was used for decades and decades. It is a double action, meaning I can fire it by cocking it and pulling the trigger or I can't actually pull the trigger and it cocks the hammer. The semi-automatic, more specifically, a lot of people do call them automatics, you know, is not many people are walking around with a little sprinkling here. Not many people are walking around with a fully automatic 1911, you know, so we tend to say the easier word automatic, I guess, but it is semi-automatic, meaning this one does have a load of magazine and meaning that it will continue firing once it's loaded until it runs out of ammunition as long as you keep pulling the trigger. Building, I knew immediately that what I was hearing was a semi-automatic weapon. You are lying through your teeth, you little demon. So Caitlin piled 15 first graders into a bathroom in her classroom, maximum 15 kids and an adult in area besides. I'd imagine. Excuse me, Caitlin, I'm a big fan of yours. I had a couple of questions for you. A lot of people think the Sandy Hooks is a hoax. Anything you want to say about that? I'm so grateful to be a part of the extraordinary house. I am so grateful to be a part of the extraordinary house or project because it represents everything that I so strongly believe in, bringing together women who are empowering themselves by making beautiful differences within their communities and within our worlds. I chose to put two different ones on the same bracelet. So we had the protector and we had lots of love. And to me, I think symbolism is very important in having an hit and use something. And so these two, I think, are very meaningful to be together because they represent who I am as a educator. As a teacher, protector, that's whoever teach your race for their students on a daily basis, not just on a tragedy, we protect our students every single day. And to have that with lots of love, you know as a teacher, you love every set of students that you have. So to have those together, I think really exemplifies what it is to be a educator. The possibility that your life can change in an instant is of course always there. Caitlin Roek, she her gunfire, large windows exposed her classroom. So she managed to rush 15 small children into a tiny bathroom to try to save their lives. My classroom being the first in our school, I knew immediately that what I was hearing was a weapon, shattering large windows at the front of our school, bringing terror, pain, sadness and a measurable loss to a school full of light and love. I did not think we were going to be okay. For myself, the only decision that needed to be made was do I want my students and I to survive. The only answer to that question was yes. In my life, I will never be able to move on from that day, but I will every day of my life move forward. I am honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. CBS News contributor, Michio Capco, is a physics professor at the City College of New York. Our kids new book, The Future of the Mind, goes on sale next week. A first grade teacher who survived Sandy Hook is on a mission. She's challenging kids to be kind and she spoke to our Megan Healey. I said, there are bad guys out there now. We need to wait for the good guys. That Sandy Hook teacher, Caitlin Roek, back on December 14th. I said, I need you to know that I love you all very much and that it's going to be okay because I thought that was the last thing I were ever going to hear. Thankfully she and those 15 little souls made it out that day and when they returned in January, they were greeted by thousands upon thousands of cards, toys, even cupcakes from strangers around the world. It was very hopeful to see the outpouring of love and to see that everybody just wanted to do their part, whatever that was. That's Caitlin today speaking with us from an office in Connecticut about an exciting new chapter based entirely on that idea of pain forward. If I don't take this moment to teach my kids that when somebody gives to you, you have to give back. So after months of planning, she's launched a website called Classes for Classes. The backbone of a nonprofit aimed at teaching K through five students a curriculum of caring. This allows any school, any class to be able to have this experience because they don't need to put a dime towards it. Through the site, a class can sponsor any other class across the country. They pledge to help that class get something they want or need. Set a goal and then solicit donations to meet it. The catch, the receiving end doesn't get the goods until they pledge to help someone else. Caitlin says these lessons can last a lifetime. It just really is a place for students to be actively engaged in learning to be caring, compassionate, letting and pathetic little beings. They're so capable of it. Now right now, there are 14 preliminary projects on the website, but Caitlin and her crew are planning to take this national over the summer. They will formally launch in September of 2013. We have more information on our website, abc27.com. So what services were provided to you after the incident? Well, for myself, you know, independently, I sought out council that of an outside therapist and I went to her twice a week for about six weeks. So what services were provided to you after the incident? Well, for myself, you know, independently, I sought out council that of an outside therapist and I went to her twice a week for about six weeks. That was completely on my own accord. Within the school setting, unfortunately, it wasn't, it's hard to explain. There were a lot of resources and it felt as if they were thrown at us. It felt as if it was, you know, here is this huge group of people and it was a rotating door. People were in and out of my classroom, you know, saying hello, meeting us, myself, as well as my students, here and there for weeks at a time. And yet we didn't have any one consistent. We didn't have anyone dedicated to us who knew us as an entity, right? My students, my 16 students and myself. We didn't have anyone who was there on a daily basis saying, okay, you know, this is what we're going to work on today. This is what we're going to work on tomorrow. Were you offered any occupational therapy services? You know, to be honest, I can't specifically remember that I was offered OT services. That's not to say that they weren't there. I don't have an ambulance. I'm going to say that I'll do nothing. Good morning, Elizabeth. And it is indeed a big day for this community. So much is stake for so many people, parents, students, teachers, police, all working hand and hand to try and find a way past this tragedy and move forward together. Every family knows the feeling of heading back to school after the holidays, but the milkroom family is facing something unthinkable. While first grader Lauren is excited, along with her fourth grade brother Dalton, their parents remain uneasy. How could someone be so angry? I don't know. Aaron is planning to drive behind their bus tomorrow and will stay with seven-year-old Lauren for the entire school day. Dropping them off and leaving school remains unimaginable. No, I can't see. No, I've gotten that party at about not being with them. It just needs to stay with them for a while. Lauren was in Caitlin Royg's first grade class on December 14. Royg has been hailed a hero for hiding her students in a bathroom as the gunman entered Sandy Hook. She talked with Diane Sawyer just hours after the rampade. I said, no, we just have to be absolutely quiet. I said, there are bad guys out there now. We need to wait for the good guys. Aaron and Eric give thanks to Royg for saving their daughter's life, but now find it difficult to explain to Lauren why so many of her friends will never return to school. But she knows her friends and show them also see on the bus because they'll be submissing on the bus. We don't want to avoid memories of a trauma. And so by getting back to school and by engaging in your routines, we're helping kids to do that. We're helping them to have a natural, healthy recovery. But for many parents that road to recovery remains a long one. Rationally you know something like this is a very improbable event, but that still doesn't change the emotional side of the way you feel. 12-year-old Lauren Millgram, it's just that simple. No more guns, certainly not in school. And tomorrow in Washington, D.C. she'll make her voice heard. For Lauren, this is personal. Five and a half years ago, she was in her first grade classroom when a gunman opened fire in her school. Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. By the time it was over, the shooter had fired at least 150 shots, taking the lives of 20 children, first graders and kindergartners, as well as six adults. Lauren's quick thinking teacher hid all 15 of her students in a tiny bathroom off the classroom, saving all of their lives and her own. Today Lauren and that teacher are still friends. Do you feel like you're closer to her because of everything? I mean, you really have a nice friendship. I mean, an experience like this, it really does bring people together. The march for our lives will be bringing people together too. She doesn't talk much about the shooting at her school, but she hasn't forgotten it. Nor has she forgotten the many friends she lost that day. One who has killed Daniel Barden had given her this heart necklace. She wears it some days and thinks of him. All these years later, her father still recalls gathering with other families at the firehouse, imagining the worst. When I look back, that was the families of the 20 or the 26 really, you know, as adults lost that day too. Lauren's parents and her brother Dalton will be marching alongside her. Dalton was in the fourth grade and survived the Sandy Hook shooting too. When you saw what happened in Parkland, what did you think? I mean, there have been so many. I mean, it's almost desensitizing to just see one, like every so often. 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