Students in two Lehighton Area School District buildings observed a moment of silence at 10 a.m. Wednesday for each of the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

The names and ages of the victims, both students and staff members, were read.

“Our students and staff have been very cooperative in an effort to use this type of demonstration as a teachable moment,” Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “The high school staff were aware that if students wished to leave their classroom they were able to report to the auditorium.”

High school Principal Sue Howland and the school’s guidance staff met the approximately 35 students who chose to remain in the auditorium.

With the students who were present in the auditorium, staff took the opportunity to have open dialogue and expressed the importance of working together and helping one another.

At the middle school, following the moment of silence, “a letter was read that was written to the students of this nation by a man that cares about the well-being of our future.”

The letter, Cleaver said, is thought-provoking and challenges students to become a better person than they are today.

“As a district, we want to encourage our students to take part in programs they feel strongly about and letting them know they have a voice,” he said. “Our district will continue to take opportunities like this to have great dialogue with the students, while letting them know the importance of being involved and working together for the benefit of their community, state and nation.”