TEACHER AND 'MY HEROES'
[Heritage High Spanish teacher Debbie Shultz spends time Friday morning with some of the students who saved her from a knife attack this week. (Top row, left-right) Andy Anderson, 17; Nimesh Patel, 17, Shultz; and Matt Battaglia, 17; (Bottom row, left-right) Scott Wigington, 17; John Bailey, 16; and Austin Hutchinson, 16.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...9heritage.html
On national TV, Heritage teacher, her 'guardian angels' describe stabbing attack
By BEN SMITH and DONNA LEWIS WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The heroes of Heritage High School went national Friday morning with their bandaged teacher, who praised the actions of "my guardian angels."
Two days after they rushed a man who tried to slash Spanish teacher Debbie Shultz with a knife, six Rockdale County teens and Shultz were featured on two national morning news programs.
Andy Anderson, Matt Battaglia, Nimesh Patel and Scott Wigington, all 17, and John Bailey and Austin Hutchinson, both 16, appeared from Conyers with teacher Debbie Shultz on ABC's "Good Morning America and the CBS "Early Show."
The students went to Shultz's rescue Wednesday when her estranged husband, Theodore Shultz, allegedly burst into their classroom brandishing a knife. The kids disarmed the attacker and pinned him to the ground.
The teacher needed stitches for cuts on her leg and hand.
"For the first time I actually made my father proud," Patel laughed during the teens' "Early Show" appearance.
Debbie Shultz said that "I have no doubt I would have been killed," if "my heroes" had not intervened.
Theodore Shultz, 51, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of aggravated assault, aggravated stalking, cruelty to children, disrupting a school and carrying a weapon on school property.
The students recounted how they wrested the knife free from the attacker after she called for them to get help. Debbie Shultz said all 24 teens in her trailer played some part in a drama that was "frozen in time."
Scott Wigington was humble on the "Good Morning America" appearance, but conceded that being the son of Rockdale County Sheriff Jeff Wigington "probably" aided his actions.
For the students and Debbie Shultz, Friday included first appearing on national television and then taking or administering final exams.
That's not the only distraction facing the new heroes, who, before Wednesday's incident, just wanted to get through semester finals and out of school for Christmas.
The teens say they have been deluged was telephone calls from various news media outlets, showered with congratulations and high-fives from classmates and even given free concert tickets.
Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke of "The Steve and Vikki Morning Show" on STAR-94 radio heard about their heroics and wanted to reward the six teens, said Annamarie Sheets, marketing director for the radio station. Each youth got a pair of tickets to Saturday night's "Jingle Jam" concert, featuring the Barenaked Ladies, Maroon 5 and Sarah McLachlan, at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
Shultz's attacker was able to walk directly into her classroom trailer outside Heritage High's main building. Rockdale school officials said Thursday they will look into new safety procedures for the trailers.