Sharpsville schools train for the worst, with goal of saving lives

Nov. 16—SHARPSVILLE — As Superintendent John Vannoy spoke to the parents and students before him, he stressed the importance of preparing as many people as possible to respond to an active shooter.

Since most school shootings are over within a few minutes before police can respond, it is up to those present to know what to do in order to survive.

That is why Vannoy said for the last several years, the students and staff at the Sharpsville Area School District have undergone ALICE training, or Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate — even though Vannoy said he hopes no one at Sharpsville schools ever has to use the knowledge.

"If you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail," Vannoy said, quoting Benjamin Franklin.

To expand the pool of those trained in ALICE, Vannoy — who is an ALICE instructor — hosted a training session last Wednesday in the Sharpsville Area High School's media center, where members of the public were invited to attend.

Accompanying Vannoy was Sgt. Dean Toth with the Sharpsville Police Department, who serves as one of the district's two school resource officers.

When explaining the importance of ALICE training before a potential shooting, Vannoy said that survivors of school shootings almost always say, "I never thought it would happen here."

And while there have been major shootings such as the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this year, Vannoy said that incidents have occurred as nearby as Erie or Lowellville, Ohio.

"Lowellville's only a half hour away from here," Vannoy said.

Compared to training that was previously used during the Columbine massacre, where students were told to hide under desks, ALICE training emphasizes different approaches depending on a victim's situation.

This could include countering the active shooter to getting out of the building or hiding in a safe location until police arrive, Vannoy said.

"The most important thing is for a student to survive," Vannoy said.

That training has been successfully adopted by Sharpsville students over the years. In one instance, Vannoy said a middle school student told a teacher that a "strange man" was trying to get into the school, and the man turned out to be a high school teacher.

Although the situation turned out to be humorous, Vannoy said it was important that the student recognized the potential danger and alerted an adult instead of simply reflexively opening the door.

Vannoy also credited the district's positive relationship with the Sharpsville Police Department, which has helped organize drills and training, along with providing two school resource officers through an agreement with the district.

One such drill was held during an in-service day earlier this year, where Toth said he fired blank rounds from an AR-15 rifle throughout the school, such as inside hallways, in classrooms with open or closed doors, and so-on while the staff were in the cafeteria.

Since shooting survivors often say they heard the initial shots but weren't sure what it was, Toth said it was important that teachers heard what shots could sound like in different rooms and distances.

"It's not always recognizable or loud," Toth said of gunfire.

However, not all of the training involves responding to an active shooter — students and staff can identify a potential shooter well before an incident takes place, which is why students are encouraged to say something if they see something, Vannoy said.

Videos were shown to reinforce the importance of identifying certain signs, such as a seemingly upbeat video where two students share secret messages throughout the school year — only for a shooter to emerge at the end.

After the twist is revealed, viewers learn that while the cutesy antics of the main characters were playing out, another student in the background was displaying several warning signs, such as sitting alone or being confrontational with others.

Vannoy added that modern students are experiencing many more stressors when compared to previous generations of students, from potential shootings to the near-constant barrage of social media.

These factors can affect a student's mental well-being, while suicide has become the second-leading cause of death for students, second only to accidents, he said.

"If a child doesn't feel safe, then nothing productive is going to happen that day," Vannoy said.

Among those in the audience was Michael Lenzi, a member of the Sharpsville school board and a parent with two children attending the district.

Although he was already familiar with Vannoy's involvement with ALICE training through his service with the school board, Lenzi said he appreciated learning firsthand the training that the district's students and staff take.

"As parents, when we drop our kids off at school, we want to know they're safe," Lenzi said.

Lenzi also sometimes coaches or volunteers at the district, and said he himself has experienced a few times where, even if a student recognizes him, they will always get a teacher or coach instead of simply letting him into the school — reinforcing how seriously the kids take their safety and ALICE.

Lenzi was also glad to see Toth attend the training, and said having the relationship between the school resource officers and the students is another component that contributes to the school's overall safety.

"The kids know who the officers are, and if they see the police in their cruisers they wave, and the police wave back," Lenzi said.

Since previous ALICE sessions were hosted annually at the school district prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lenzi said he hopes to see more participants at future ALICE sessions to help increase awareness even further.

"I think parents and community members are missing out if they don't go to this, because every single person that was there Wednesday night took something away from it," Lenzi said.

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Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.