On Thursday morning, NASH and NAI students shuffled off to their second period class as usual, but upon arriving to class, students watched a 90-minute live stream of the Safe2Say Something presentation, with the rest of the day to follow a two-hour delay schedule.

“At this time,” NASH Principal Dr. Kreider announced over the PA, “teachers should connect their laptops to their Promethean TVs and confirm that they’re receiving the stream.  The presentation will begin shortly.”

This year, the state added new safety standards for secondary education students, and the Safe2Say presentation and training is one way to meet them.  Sponsored by the Sandy Hook Promise and led by Mr. Brandon Rainey, a national trainer based in Los Angeles, the presentation covered when and how students can contact responsible adults if they sense a threat in the building, introducing an anonymous tip line, app, and website for this purpose.

Kreider acknowledged that live streaming wasn’t the most traditional way to hold an assembly, but he said that it would cause less of an educational disruption than having to hold four assemblies over two days.

For Megan Gleason, the livestream was informative and necessary, though not without room for improvement.

“I think that the message behind the presentation was important and pertinent to our lives,” the senior said. “However, I think that the presentation itself could have been shorter.”

After the presentation, Rainey said that this was the first live stream he’s ever done and the scariest of his speaking experiences to date. But he reminded himself of the mission of Sandy Hook Promise.

“The most important thing about this presentation is knowing that you have a voice that can make an impact,” he explained.

Kreider added after the presentation that the school has already received two anonymous tips from the state that the administration will act on at the local level. He also explained that the state’s goal for the program is to “create safer environments across the state of Pennsylvania in order to make sure that all students have access to a free and appropriate public education.”

If students are worried about a threat to the school, they should call 911 for immediate threats and contact a trusted adult at the school or use the hotline, app, or website in all other situations. The NA Tips line is 724-933-TIPS, and the Safe2Say hotline is 1-844-SAF2SAY.  More information regarding Safe2Say, including a link to the app download, can be found here.