Just an hour away from Lambert High School, four people were killed and nine injured in a school shooting at Apalachee High School on September 4. The victims included two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two staff members, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie. 

The suspect charged was identified as Colt Gray, a 14-year old student at Apalachee High School, raising serious concerns about student safety, mental health and access to firearms. However, the tragic past of school shootings and tragedies has persisted long before the events at Apalachee.

The grim history of school shootings in America has been marred with incidents such as Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Parkland High School in 2018 and Robb Elementary School in 2022. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2000 and 2020, 383 casualties can be attributed to over 800 school shootings.

Part of Lambert High School Principal Amanda Thrower’s strategy towards preventing such an incident is simple— establishing and maintaining good relationships with students.

Making sure that students are known and seen by trusted adults is at the forefront of Lambert’s prevention strategy. Students are always encouraged to seek support when they need it, and teachers and counselors are equipped to meet student needs in times of crisis.

Forsyth County Schools is notable for its inclusion of the Student Advocacy Specialist (SAS) position, which offers individual intervention and prevention for students when needed.

“If a student is showing any type of crisis or trauma in their life that is an area for concern, they are meeting regularly with the SAS,” Mrs. Thrower explained. “I think the most important thing from a proactive side is just to know our students really, really well.”

Besides building student relationships, Lambert staff also makes sure all doors are secured and lockdown drills are regularly practiced. In addition, Student Resource Officers (SROs) are placed at Lambert to respond to any possible crisis. In the wake of the shooting at Apalachee, police presence has been visibly increased.

In the future, Forsyth County Schools is looking into bolstering their safety measures by possibly purchasing emergency panic buttons for classrooms and teachers.

In a press release sent out on September 16, State School Superintendent Richard Woods also called for further safety measures and preventative systems for schools.

“In the upcoming legislative session, I will advocate for the state budget to include additional state funding for school safety, with the goal of providing a School Resource Officer and a crisis alert system in every Georgia school,” Woods wrote.

While administrators,  school staff and state officials do their best to maintain a safe learning environment, safety at Lambert truly starts with students. If a student ever feels unsafe, they are encouraged to use the P3 tip line to report any concerns. 

“We get the P3 notifications immediately; they go to our entire team, they also go to law enforcement, and our school safety office,” Mrs. Thrower commented.

In Forsyth County, at least two students have been arrested for alleged threats, and over 30 students from across the state have been charged for terroristic threats. Making threats to schools, regardless of actual intention, is considered a felony. Anyone who makes terroristic threats can face up to five years in prison in the state of Georgia.

These threats were perpetrated primarily on social media and reshared across various platforms, contributing to significant concern across the student body of further potential events at their school. 

Additionally, a student-organized walkout during advisement in conjunction with Georgia Youth Justice Coalition (GYJC), is organized for Friday, September 20. The protest is spearheaded by Lambert’s Human Rights Campaign (HRC) as well as representatives from GYJC. 

While the walkout is not officially endorsed or affiliated with Lambert High School, students are allowed to demonstrate during advisement as long as they return to class as scheduled. For students, the walkout comes at a crucial crossroads for meaningful change in light of recent events, with many expressing that such a protest is long overdue. 

Saif Hasan, a senior at Lambert and representative with Georgia Youth Council, expressed his concern with school safety as well as his support for a walkout.

“I think that for far too long, students have put up with this [school shootings], and it’s about time for change,” Hasan said.

The goal of the walkout is to spread awareness of the issue to students and encourage Georgia lawmakers to pass new legislation. Those organizing the walkout have iterated that students will face no disciplinary action nor harm as a result of participating in order to further incentivize students to make their voice heard. Furthermore, students leading Lambert HRC are hopeful that the walkout will be a strong starting point to advocate for more concrete change and get Lambert students involved in the cause.

“We have a large school of over 3000 people, and a lot are planning to walk out, so I do think it’ll be impactful in that sense,” Lambert senior and HRC vice president Sarvesh Suresh said.

The protest will also feature a guest speaker, Lindsey Adams, from the Forsyth County Board of Education. Through such measures, Lambert HRC hopes to kickstart a grassroots movement that fights for direct legal change by contacting legislators, lobbyists and others in government.

“In terms of school shootings, it would be great to write about gun laws and regulations to legislators,” Lambert senior and HRC president Shivangi Panda explained. “I’ve talked to our senator before, and he says that he does actually read all the letters he gets, which I think makes this really impactful.”

Lambert students and staff are working together to turn a new page in regards to school safety. 

“What I can reassure our parents and our kids is that we are doing everything we can with the resources we have to keep our students safe,” Mrs. Thrower said.

As the Lambert community works together to navigate a path forward, many questions still remain about how best to tackle underlying issues. However, one thing is guaranteed – safety is the top priority of everyone in the building and will continue to be heavily enforced.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and contributors on this student-run news site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Lambert High School or Forsyth County Schools.