Teacher sings Barney amid drug cartel gunfire

Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET, May 31 with comments from Rivera.

Marta Rivera Alanis, a 33-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, received a special recognition from local Mexican authorities for her heroic action calming her 15 pre-school-age students during a gun battle which raged outside her classroom Friday.

The incident occurred Friday at a school in Monterrey, 140 miles south of the Texas border and once one of the safest, most prosperous cities in Mexico.

But in recent years, drug traffickers have been settling into Monterrey's posh neighborhoods, changing the tranquility of the city.

The video Rivera shot from her Blackberry while a shootout between rival drug cartels took place outside her school has now gone viral.

In the video her confused students ask what is going on; she asks them to keep their heads down, then says peacefully: "What, darling, no, nothing is going on."

As the shots get louder and machine gun fire ricochets outside, she asks them if they'd like to sing a song, then leads them in singing a song by the TV character Barney.

The shootout left five dead. None of the teachers or students at Rivera's school was injured.

Rivera told reporters she started singing to her students from the heart and that she never imagined the video she took would become such a hit. She also told CBS News she isn't worried about her newfound fame amid Mexico's narcotics-fueled violence.

"I'm not scared. But surprised under the circumstances and the attention. Many people in Mexico are discouraged due to what's going on here. But there are many people like me in this country - and even better people than me."

Rivera - who belongs to a Security Committee for Teachers - told reporters that at the time she took the video she thought she'd be able to show it to her security trainees. Without really thinking, she was following the Nuevo Leon State security manual.

She uploaded the video on her personal Facebook page, and then one of her friends uploaded to a local blog, where it went viral.

During the ceremony earlier today she told reporters she was very proud, and said all teachers in the Monterrey area have been trained to deal with these kinds of situations.

She also said she wanted to continue working.

"I love my work. I would like for all of us to do a better job. I want a better Mexico for my kids. I know we can achieve many things."

Since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006 and declared war on Mexico's increasingly ruthless drug cartels, more than 30,000 people have been killed.

[SusanMassachusetts]

God Bless this woman, she is an inspiration to all.

[northwest_angel]

She's an amazing teacher. She kept her wits about her and was able to keep her students calm, safe, and alive.

[sofiaflores1983]

Well I live in the U.S and I wouldn't take any blame for when this starts to happen here. I don't use drugs,I don't drink,don't smoke,not a drug addict.so it won't be our fault. It'll be crackheads fault. Blame all the evil in the world to Satan.

[fishcreekbob]

The woman is a hero. End prohibition and end the cartels.

[credibility2]

What a selfless and heroic teacher to have maintained calm during this horrible situation, focusing on calming and reassuring her little kids. Criminals like these are inhuman and can't be even viewed as humans.

[sofiaflores1983]

This brought tears to my eyes,it's so sad,what this world has become,and unfortunately things are going to keep getting worse,not better.
The teacher did a great job,I was only imagining if those were my kids in that situation.Scary,I hope Jehovah gets rid of all these drug cartels and all the evil in the world soon.
I'm not Mexican,but I feel bad for all those people that have to encounter this horrible drug war,so sad how the Mexican government won't ever do anything to get rid of the problem,because they are part of the problem,I know the Mexican government is silently involved in all this for the love of money.The Mexican President must get paid good money to not do much of the situation. The American government isn't interested on helping get rid of the drug cartel,as much as Al Qaeda,for the fact that they don't win anything from Mexico,and they do win petroleum in Iraq. The American government only gets in situations where is convenience,not inconvenient.

[sofiaflores1983]

This brought tears to my eyes,it's so sad,what this world has become,and unfortunately things are going to keep getting worse,not better.
The teacher did a great job,I was only imagining if those were my kids in that situation.Scary,I hope Jehovah gets rid of all these drug cartels and all the evil in the world soon.
I'm not Mexican,but I feel bad for all those people that have to encounter this horrible drug war,so sad how the Mexican government won't ever do anything to get rid of the problem,because they are part of the problem,I know the Mexican government is silently involved in all this for the love of money.The Mexican President must get paid good money to not do much of the situation.

[rwsmith29456]

She is really cool under fire.

[justme2012]

I saw a report on this tonight and they were saying that in Mexico schools have drills for the kids on what to do during gunfights. Much like we have tornado drills for our students.

This was only 140 miles from our border. We can not simply hope this is not coming to America.

[curse914]

We are part of the reason it is happening there...demand for narcotics.

[justme2012]

NO!!

Tired of being blamed for the world's evils.

Everytime something horrible happens the apologists and blamers start saying it's "American's fault".

Well it is NOT!

It is the fault people of that country that allow this to happen. It is their country. They are responsible for what happens there.

And if we allow this to come to our country, it will be OUR fault.

[myth1958]

Marta Alanis kept a cool head during the most trying times, earning the respect of parents and other teachers worldwide. What do you do when guns are going off outside your school and you have precious kids to keep calm? This extraordinary woman got the kids to sing - keeping their minds off what was transpiring just outside their windows. I'm glad that even in the midst of chaos someone could think of the community's babies first. Her heroic actions saved the kids - saved herself and her baby-in-waiting - and kept anyone not involved in cartel violence from falling prey to it, too. God bless Marta, her kids and the rest of the school. I pray the fighting stops soon.