WATERVILLE, Maine — Dozens of school leaders, law enforcement officers, and security professionals took a two-day course on how to survive an active shooter scenario, at Thomas College in Waterville, on Thursday.
The two-day course is run by the ALICE Training Institute, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate, where individuals learn how to protect students and others during a violent offender attack.
In addition to learning how to respond in an emergency scenario, these local leaders left with a new set of skills to share with their communities.
Participants first learned in a classroom setting, and afterward participated in mock demonstrations on what to do in an active shooter scenario.
Instructors guided the participants throughout the entire process, stopping any time folks felt unsafe or overly emotional.
By learning in real-time with stressful surroundings, participants could realize their limitations and strengths to safely act in whichever scenario they found themselves in.
Gardiner Area High School Principal Lauren Arnold was one of many attending the course, and already knew about its reputation after taking it in the past.
With false alarm bomb threats trickling into school systems, she said taking the training and sharing it with her school community has been a sigh of relief for students.
"We want to make sure, like, our policies are up to date, our responses are current and accurate, and really be in the best position to protect our students," Arnold said. "It's been really eye-opening and you feel really well prepared when you leave the training."
After completing the course, participants are guided and assessed by instructors on how to best teach the course back to their community.
"What's really beneficial to us and our staff is we're able to help our community; help us in protecting them," Thomas College Director of Safety and Security Chris Santiago said. "I have two members of my staff in the course currently, and so beginning this spring, we will start to deliver this course to our campus community."