OREGON, Ohio — During the recent gun scare that happened at the Clay High School football game, it was clear that students knew exactly what to do during sporting events, but many parents did not.
"We had a lot of parents and community members who asked us, what exactly are you doing in our schools to train our students and our staff," said Oregon Schools Assistant Superintendent, Dean Sandwisch.
Those questions prompted Oregon City Schools to answer. They held a community forum and addressed increasing security at sporting events.
Now the school district is holding safety trainings.
"Our focus all along has been what happens in the school setting in the school day. Two weeks ago, we learned very, very quickly that we need to extend that training to events that we're involved with outside of the school day," said Sandwisch.
Beginning Monday, Oregon City Schools will host the first installment in its monthly community safety trainings. The goal of the meetings is to help bring everyone to the same page.
Eisenhower Intermediate School Resource Officer Sara Shaw will teach district parents and any interested community members about Monday's topic: A.L.I.C.E.
A.L.I.C.E. is an active shooter response training that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate.
"It is not a linear process. It does not start from the A and go to the E. But what we hope happens is when the alert happens, we can skip right down to the E which is evacuate. We stress to our students and our staff that the first thing you should be thinking about is how can I create distance from this threat," Shaw said.
Officials say teaching the kids the training has been happening for years, but now there is a need to teach the community what the students already know.
"My hope is to do a really good job of explaining to these parents what their kids know and explaining to them that if you're family doesn't have a plan utilizing the things that your kids know form A.L.I.C.E. and what they've learned here at school, that needs to be your number one priority," said Shaw.
According to Oregon City Schools, in 2006, students began getting A.L.I.C.E. training every year. Thirteen years later, each student within Oregon City Schools knows what to do in those circumstances.
Anyone can use A.L.I.C.E. anywhere and that is the district's goal with the training.
"So I really want to stress to the families. Talk about it, don't just know that we're doing this, but really know it, understand it and put it into action," said Shaw.
The second training will be at the end of October and its topic will focus on understanding your surroundings.
You can find the meeting schedule here. Meetings are open to anyone who is interested, not just city of Oregon residents.