ALICE: For Safer and Better Schools

This was the ALICE classroom set up for the assembly to show students.

47 students were either killed or injured during the Virginia Tech incident in 2007. At the time, this was one of the worst school shootings since the Columbine in 1999.  Ever since then school shootings and school incidents have been getting worse and,unfortunately–more common. We now live in a world where we have to fear for student safety. In recent years, school safety has changed dramatically and every school has adopted different strategies to combat the possibility of an intruder.

ALICE is an acronym that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. ALICE is a proactive method of dealing with active shooter situations anywhere, not just in a school environment. It focuses on giving a student or a staff member more options to defend themselves in an active-shooter situation.

“I believe that ALICE will not only prepare us for the unthinkable but it will also bring student and staff together as a team regarding safety and security,” Henry Snyder, Director of Building and Maintenance and School Safety & Security Coordinator. ALICE is an ongoing program where students participate in training to prepare themselves in case of an active shooter.

Pine Grove Area School District called a Town Meeting to talk about school safety; a controversial topic, especially when it comes to finding solutions for active shooter situations.  While at the meeting, the District mapped out a timeline for the implementation of ALICE to the student body of Pine Grove Area School District. Also at the meeting, Officer Dissinger, a Pine Grove Borough Police Officer was introduced as the Board approved School Resource Officer.   

Once the public was notified of ALICE, students were ALICE educated based upon grade level. Elementary students were trained at a different pace due to their age. Elementary staff  members are trained to make sure that younger students feel safe at the school every day and through a book-and-discussion Elementary students were taught the elements of ALICE. High school and middle school learned the components of ALICE through a more direct approach with a physical demonstration that placed them in a situation of an intruder entering their school.

After the demonstration students had many positive things to say about the program. “I think the drills will actually help prepare us in case of an event like this,” said Keith Koppenhaver, a junior. Not only were the students pleased with the demonstration, the instructors were also as Mr. Gibson went as far to say, “I think it’s great we’re teaching kids to make their own decisions in this situation.” This is the first step to the students to make decisions for themselves and not only in this situation, but any like it. Many students took the information they learned into serious consideration realizing it was no laughing matter. Michael Janicelli, High School Principal, said, “I am very proud of our student body and their attentiveness during this process.”

On October 16, all three buildings experienced an active shooter drill, where the students and staff were to use the steps of ALICE to stay safe. The drill,  had a big impact on how to keep safety in mind in an intruder situation. LTC Stefanchik, one of the intruders during the drill, said, “I thought the drill went very well, a very good initial first step. I am looking forward to when we can do a full-on drill.” During the drill, students choose how to react in an intruder situation and the District was able to see if anything would need changed. “It made me realize what I really need to do to survive,” said Savannah Low, junior.  

“It [the drill] gave a lot of insight on the things that happen in the building,” said SFC Bates, one of the JROTC teachers, as he was one of the many teachers that witnessed the drill. Now that more school districts and communities are realizing what is happening in regards to school safety, big changes are being made with protocols and drills.