Students Promise to "Say Something"

In the Chehalis School District, creating a safe school environment takes work from not only our Security & Safety Officers but also our students and staff. Each March, students at W.F. West High School (grades 9-12) and Chehalis Middle School (grades 6-8) take part in Say Something Week. This national observance by Sandy Hook Promise, this year held March 4-8, centers around understanding the warning signs and making a commitment to say something if you spot someone showing signs they may harm themselves or others.

Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members of those killed at the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Their intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by uniting concerned people with meaningful actions in schools, homes and communities to prevent gun violence and stop the tragic loss of life.

The "Say Something" observance is based on the statistic that in 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it. Students and educators who participate in the Say Something program learn how to recognize warning signs and alert a trusted adult if a classmate shows signs that they may be in danger or need help.

Each year's observance is different but always centers around education and community building. At W.F. West High School, morning meetings during CCR centered around talking about and recognizing warning signs and why speaking up is important. At Chehalis Middle School, Wildcat Time was also dedicated to talking about these subjects.

And the leadership teams of both schools spent the week spreading the word through signs, bulletin boards and passing out lollipops with positive messages one day. The W.F. West Leadership team also visited Chehalis Middle School Friday for a special assembly that included fun, class competition style games but also the serious message about the "Say Something" campaign.

Here is Sandy Hook Promise's list of ten potential warning signs that can signal an individual may be in crisis or need help. These can be actions in person or online:

1. Suddenly withdrawing from friends, family and activities (including online or via social media)
2. Bullying, especially if targeted towards differences in race, religion, gender or sexual orientation
3. Excessive irritability, lack of patience or becoming angry quickly
4. Experiencing chronic loneliness or social isolation
5. Expressing persistent thoughts of harming themselves or someone else
6. Making direct threats toward a place, another person or themselves
7. Bragging about access to guns or weapons
8. Recruiting accomplices or audiences for an attack
9. Directly expressing a threat as a plan
10. Cruelty to animals

In order to continue to provide a secure environment for our students, Chehalis Middle School has implemented a new security procedure regarding entering the school building during school hours. All doors at Chehalis Middle School, including the front door, will now be locked by 8 a.m. on school days and unlocked upon dismissal of students (2:20 p.m. on normal schedule days) until the office closes at 3:30 p.m. If you need to visit the campus during the school day, there is a doorbell to the right of the door that you can ring to be admitted to the building.

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