Silver Valley schools and community react to Freeman High tragedy

In the wake of Wednesday’s tragic school shooting in Rockford, Washington, at Freeman High School, the local Silver Valley school administrators issued a statement on how the schools will be moving forward.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the students and staff at Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington.

We focus every day on the safety of our schools.

We increased our vigilance and revisited our safety procedures.

Safety of our children never leaves our thoughts and we all do everything in our power to improve safety for our students.

We will use this tragic incident as an opportunity to again talk about options and procedures.

We revisit the issue of school safety periodically throughout the year and we also talk to students about their response to an unapproved person on campus.”

And while the tragedy is no greater than any of the other school shootings that have happened over the years, the proximity of the event has shaken the community more so than any of the previous event ever had.

Local residents took to social media to air their emotions and frustrations, thoughts of ‘how could this happen so close’ and asking for prayers of peace and healing to those who had been affected.

One such post from local resident Roger Grosvenor had this excerpt in it.

“We need to say prayers for all, the victims and other students who may have seen this (go) down.”

Fellow resident Krista Brandt was shocked by the event, especially considering her daughter had become friends with several students at the school through sports.

“Please keep freeman high school in your prayers and thoughts! So scary! hug your kids tight everyday. Cierra played club with some girls from Freeman. They are a close community and I’m just so sad for them.”

This showing of unity and support is one of the many reasons why our community is such a great one.