TxSSC
School Safety Spotlight Awards
Staff Development and Training
- indicates an overall recipient for fiscal year.
Willie Wilkins, Mesquite ISD
Staff Development and Training
Mesquite ISD Safety and Security Coordinator Willie Wilkin’s hands-on, evidence-based approach to staff development and training is significantly enhancing the district's overall safety preparedness. In May 2024, Willie led a five-hour emergency management training for all district principals, assistant principals, and school resource officers, emphasizing active threat response and incorporating tabletop exercises. Willie has continued this initiative during the 2024-2025 school year, conducting additional tabletop exercises with each campus emergency response team (CERT) to ensure preparedness for emergencies.
Willie employs interactive methods using large campus floor plans and colored pawns representing different roles to simulate scenarios based on actual incidents. This approach helps staff create campus-specific safety plans and prepares them to respond more quickly and effectively to threats and hazards, from a tornado or hazmat spill to an active threat. Based on requests from principals, Willie also adapted this training to accommodate an entire campus staff of 75 – 100.
Through his dedication and use of recognized tools such as table-top exercises, Willie is equipping school leaders with the training, knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to increase Mesquite ISD’s preparedness efforts.
“The key ingredient to my happiness with what I do is that I enjoy conversing with people. My job provides me an opportunity to put this basic urge to use for a significant purpose. I’m a very social person in a traditional sense of the term. I have combined the key ingredient with my passion of safety to teach educators on how to be aware and prepared for the unexpected experiences that may arise in and outside of the classroom.”