An ordinary day in Christian Botte’s 7th-grade science classroom at IS 201 in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, turned into a frightening ordeal when an entire wall — including a large window — suddenly collapsed inward toward his students. “All of a sudden there was a really strange noise, sort of a giant creaking noise,” said Botte, who looked up at the window only to see the entire wall start to tilt inward. “At that point I just screamed at everybody to get away from the wall,” he said. Concern for his students drove him to hurry toward it even as his students rushed away. “It was just instinct that takes over to take care of the kids,” he said. With his students already nearing the exit, the wall came down, sending debris flying. Botte sustained minor injuries to both corneas. Within seconds, his entire classroom had evacuated. “The kids did a really good job listening to me,” Botte said. “They responded quickly and didn’t panic.” They reconvened in the auditorium, where, Botte said, “I asked them if they were all OK about 150 times. It was a traumatizing experience, but afterward we were able to talk about staying calm and being thankful we were all safe.” As a precaution, police officers evacuated a portion of the building, and Botte’s classroom remains empty for the time being. “I want to make sure it’s safe to go back,” he said. “It was really frightening; it’s scary what could have happened. Thank God everybody got out safely.”