Just like a fire drill, students and teachers routinely practice what to do if an armed intruder enters their school.
Some students and teachers across the country are being told to fight back. And that's happened in recent weeks, when two students 鈥� , and 鈥� died lunging at gunmen.
The type of training students receive can vary from district to district, and by age group.
At the Farmington River Regional School 鈥� an elementary school in Otis, Massachusetts 鈥� principal and superintendent Thomas Nadolny recently got on the intercom.
鈥淭he school will now be conducting a lockdown drill,鈥� he announced. 鈥淧lease go into lockdown mode at this time. This is just a drill. Thank you.鈥�
Inside a sixth-grade classroom, teacher Jamie Foster moved quickly, turning off lights and locking the door. He was all business as he directed students.
鈥淐rouch in that corner, please,鈥� he said.
Next, Foster pulled the shades. The idea was not to be seen 鈥� or heard.
鈥淗ey, guys, guys 鈥� nice and quietly, right? Not a sound,鈥� he said.
For a long two-and-a-half minutes, students clumped together on the floor in the pitch dark, mostly quiet.
Then, all of a sudden, it was over, as a state police officer entered the classroom.
鈥淗ello, police department! Lockdown drill,鈥� trooper Andrew Canata called out as he unlocked the classroom door. 鈥淗ello, my friends. Good job. It鈥檚 a drill. Thank you all for being so well-behaved and quiet, and for being such good listeners.鈥�
Canata, who leads drills like this in Berkshire and Hampden counties, gave the kids some pointers.
鈥淪ee how she is crouching, or he鈥檚 standing, one or the other? We want to be in a position so we can move. OK?鈥� he said.
Move 鈥� so they can run, if necessary.
Another safety measure: making it harder to get inside a school building.
Since last year, Mohawk Trail Regional School in Shelburne Falls has added another layer of locked doors. That means more layers of protection according to superintendent Michael Buoniconti, who has 29 years of service in the military.
鈥淭he harder you make your target 鈥� and again, this is going back to military type of language,鈥� Buoniconti said, 鈥渢hen the less likely an adversary is going to come after you.鈥�
Buoniconti predicts that in time, school buildings will be as protected as airports. But he also wants students and staff to know how to protect themselves.
鈥淲e do not train our students to be sheep,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f a gunman comes into a classroom 鈥� unless you have an exterior exit that you can get out of 鈥� you鈥檙e cornered. So really, it鈥檚 fight or die. Preparing to respond that way is what we need to do with our people.鈥�
That鈥檚 how two students in other states recently responded.
On the last day of classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, shots rang out. Emergency management tweeted: "Run, Hide, Fight." Riley Howell, 21, lunged at a gunman 鈥� and died.
NinerAlert: Shots reported near kennedy. Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately. Monitor email and 鈥� UNCC OEM (@NinerAlerts)
About a week later, Kendrick Castillo, 18 鈥� who was supposed to graduate high school in Colorado 鈥� also died running at a gunman. He wasn鈥檛 trained to fight back. He just did it.
Both have been hailed as heroes.
In most western Massachusetts schools, students, teachers and staff aren鈥檛 practicing fighting. But trainers suggest teachers get between the door and their students 鈥� and grab a heavy object.
鈥淲e're supposed to stand ready, preferably with something in our hands, so that if someone comes in, we can 鈥� go to battle, I guess 鈥� you know, protect ourselves and the kids,鈥� said Mohawk Trail school librarian Emily Willis, who recalls being in a drill when she was eight months pregnant.
She said she feels responsible for students鈥� safety, and wants to do whatever she can to protect them 鈥� but fighting back, she said, seems unrealistic.
"It鈥檚 just not in my nature at all to fight back in general," Willis said. "With words, maybe? But not ever with something that I would use to hurt someone else. I can鈥檛 imagine myself doing that."
Mae Rice-Lesure, an 18-year-old senior at Mohawk Trail, has practiced safety drills for years. She knows to crouch, not sit, and stay out of sight of windows. She said sometimes teachers suggest other options.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 actively done it, but teachers have said, 鈥榃ell, if this was a real life situation, we鈥檇 want you to grab all these things, and try and barricade the door,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hen teachers would grab objects, and say, 鈥業f this were real, you guys should be grabbing things, too.鈥欌��
Back in Otis, fifth-grade teacher CJ Keller grabs a Louisville slugger during drills. He said he wouldn鈥檛 hesitate to put himself between his kids and danger, but he doesn鈥檛 want his students thinking that way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dangerous precedent to set, to put that seed into a middle schooler鈥檚 or an elementary schooler鈥檚 mind,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is a lot of pressure to have 鈥� to make a child choose 鈥� a scary thing for them to choose.鈥�
All of the news about school shootings can stir things up for students.
Rice-Lesure has been keeping track of the number of shootings. She said after students and staff were killed at a high school in Parkland, Florida, last year, she felt scared.
鈥淚t was in the front of my mind,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hroughout the day, I鈥檇 find myself wondering and trying to keep track of, like, where my best friends were, what class my brother was in.鈥�
Rice-Lesure has also been thinking about the two students in Colorado and North Carolina who died protecting others.
What they did was brave, she said, but she doesn鈥檛 want her peers or teachers to sacrifice themselves.
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