A school shooting is a nightmare that no parent or teacher ever wants their children to go through. For some people, just talking about it can be uncomfortable.

But a growing number of schools around the country are preparing students for those situations, including Weatherly Area School District.

School officials and the Weatherly Police Department have joined together to train students through a program through the ALICE Training Institute.

The training goes beyond the lockdown procedures that schools already use to try to have a coordinated plan to respond when there is an active situation.

“This is just another level. It’s another level of being proactive, from where they were to where we are right now, it’s definitely in the right direction,” Sgt. Michael Bogart said.

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. It focuses on having students and teachers take steps to help limit the catastrophe of an active shooter situation. That may include locking a classroom door, or planning for routes out of the building. And as a last resort, they train adults on how to confront an active shooter.

Last month, they trained teachers during an in-service day. This week, they started rolling it out to students in grades K-8, with the high school to follow.

The program will conclude with a live drill where students put into practice what they learned.

The district has posted a page on its website detailing the ALICE program, and with videos that can educate parents.

Bogart said that with the nearest SWAT team more than an hour away, those steps could make a critical difference in a shooting situation.

“Working together, and having that plan, absolutely makes it more beneficial,” Bogart said.

The training would not have taken place without new Weatherly School District Superintendent Teresa Young, who also used the training in her old position in rural Clearfield County, where there were no local police and state police were 45 minutes away. But she found that students benefited from the program regardless of where their school was located.

“The parents are the ones who are more afraid. It’s like a taboo subject. You don’t want to talk about it, but you have to talk about it,” she said.

Parents got a chance to learn about the training at a public session held Wednesday night. Kristin Wilkinson said that as a mother, school shootings are a real fear.

Kelly Holman said that for that reason, she is glad the district is going through the training.

“It’s a sad reality, whether they’re 5 or 18,” she said.