At an assembly at the Welches School on Thursday, Oct. 22, as part of “Say
Something Week,” students learned that in four out of five school shootings,
the attacker told people of his or her plan ahead of time.

“The numbers of acts of violence are surprising,” sixth grade student Grace
Bliesier said. “I learned to report things right away and what to look out for.”
The Oregon Trail School District (OTSD), in partnership with Sandy Hook
Promise, took part in the program to help educate students on how to detect
warning signs, signals or threats from their peers who may want to harm
themselves or others.

The program encourages students to ‘say something’ when they read, hear or
see signs of such behavior, particularly on social media.

Ladine Marquardt, OTSD Student Services, is at the helm of orchestrating this
new program and noted that students can have a different vantage point on
what is happening amongst their peers.

“Students are in a unique position to see and hear things that adults do not.”
Marquardt said.

“Say Something,” based on research conducted by Dr. Dewey Cornell and Dr.
Reid Meloy (two leading national experts in threat assessment and
intervention), focuses on the prevention of gun violence, suicide, bullying or
harassment in and out of the school. Students are encouraged to say
something about concerning behavior or actions via phone, text, email or
through a website, and can do so anonymously.

“We are trying to prevent a feeling of helplessness.” Marquardt said regarding
the rise in school violence.

At the assembly, students watched a two-minute video of statistics about
violence in schools, followed by a presentation and a discussion facilitated by
teachers.

“I learned helpful information on signs of suicide,” Karver Muise, a sixth
grade student said. Muise added he would “feel more comfortable” reporting
something after the information he learned.

Fellow sixth grader Inanna Vognild noted she would try to text or email if she
discovered something.

“It’s really scary to think about,” she added about the statistics surrounding
school violence.