METAMORA, Ohio — Students at Evergreen Middle School aren't just taking a normal P.E. class. This class is inspired by tragedy within their own community.
It's lessons in self-defense and it's part of a new program.
This year, a handful of schools in our area have taken up the Sierah Strong program with the goal to prevent the unthinkable from ever happening again.
RELATED: School children learn lessons in self-defense through program started in memory of Sierah Joughin
Evergreen Middle School is one of the first to pilot the training.
Sierah Joughin's family developed the Sierah Strong program to teach students how to defend themselves against an attacker.
It's broken down into six lessons with a health-education portion and a self-defense portion, all to teach students how to be self-aware and have the skills to fight someone who is attacking them.
"A lot of communities and kids outside of Evergreen may think this will never happen to me, it doesn't happen around here. But, I think there's that sense here in this community that it does happen. So it makes it special, and it hits home," Principal Brady Ruffer said.
The reason the program hits home is that Evergreen Middle School is where Sierah Joughin went to school.
She walked the halls and sat in the same classrooms. Now, the students are learning her story.
"I was probably like six or seven years old, so I didn't really understand it in the beginning, but we talked about it in class and it makes more sense. It's very intense," sixth-grade student Lyla Radel said.
"It's scary to hear her story of what happened. But it's education to help in the future," seventh-grader Kennedy Peebles said.
The students say everything they learn is relevant and teaching them how to be safe.
One of their teachers, Amanda Brehm, says the students are taking the program seriously and she's thankful to be part of it.
"I'm proud to teach the program and carry Sierah's legacy on and help it make an impact on other people's lives," Brehm said.
School leaders are hoping to expand the program to eighth grade students and possibly into its elementary school.