A teacher at Peak to Peak Elementary School in Pine Mountain Club, California, has a tale that will likely leave her students wide-eyed on the first day of school. On Tuesday, August 6th, Elaine Salmon was preparing her classroom for the upcoming school year when she briefly left to make some copies. In those few minutes, a surprise guest made its way into her classroom — a bear!
“When I came back, I opened my classroom door, and there was this bear charging towards the door,” Salmon said. In a quick-thinking move, she shut the door, effectively locking the bear inside — along with her cell phone.
Elaine Salmon talks about the bear that made its way into her classroom after she left the room briefly. Photo by Local 12
Salmon’s immediate concern was, perhaps surprisingly, not her safety but the state of her newly decorated classroom. Fortunately, the bear caused minimal damage, only rummaging through one of the classroom’s earthquake emergency kits.
My first thought was, is it gonna do any damage? I have a brand new floor, and I already have my decorations up,” Salmon said.
With the bear secured in the classroom, Salmon hurried to the office to call her husband, Ian Sawrey, for backup. When he arrived, they devised a plan to lure the bear out. Sawrey knocked on the classroom window to get the bear’s attention, then opened the door, hoping the bear would take the hint and leave.
“The thing is, sadly, you have to hold the door open for it to stay open. So when he was holding the door open, that’s when he called the bear’s attention and then the bear went by him, like within a foot,” Salmon explained.
The bear makes his way through Salmon’s classroom. Photo courtesy of Ian Sawrey
Luckily, the bear took the exit and fled back to the nearby mountains, leaving the classroom (and its new floor) mostly intact. The couple emerged unscathed, and the bear encounter was over—at least for now.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a bear has wandered somewhere it doesn’t belong. Bears have been known to get a bit too curious, with some even venturing into kitchens or balancing on fences in residential areas. Still, this encounter was a first for Peak to Peak Elementary School, which, ironically, is nicknamed “Home of the Bears.”
As for the school, they’ve reviewed their safety protocols, ensuring that students will be safe from any future wildlife visitors. “We have a shelter-in-place protocol where when there’s a bear, any wild animal around, we lock the classroom to make sure the kids don’t get out until it’s safe,” Salmon noted.
In the end, it seems this bear may have developed a fondness for the school. After its initial visit, it reportedly returned, perhaps in search of more earthquake kit snacks.
