to the issue of gun violence and support the gun safety movement intending to bring awareness to the issue of gun violence and support the gun safety movement. Wearing orange on this day shows support for victims of gun violence and the gun safety movement. “I definitely take a role in activism, and calling in to make sure that they hear my opinion because people who [are] pro-gun, pro-constitutional carry are very, very motivated about this,” Adams said. “If a senator hears from their constituents 20-to-one that they are in favor of looser gun restrictions, that’s probably how they’re going to vote.” Adams also brings awareness to gun violence through conversations in everyday life. “I do try to bring up this discussion, whenever it’s appropriate of course, with people because I think an honest discussion … needs to be had. It’s a tough conversation, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have it,” Adams said. A large reason for Adams’ passion for gun safety is the loss of his grandfather, who died by gun suicide when Adams was in the second grade. “It’s just my personal goal to make sure that no other second graders are pulled out of their class to be told that,” Adams said. In the ICCSD, staff members are also acting to keep people within schools safe.
“Staff completes what’s called ALICE training, which is training that we, as a staff, would do should we have an active shooter in our building or on our grounds,” said Principal Mitch Gross. “[The] training goes through a variety of scenarios that we have to respond to in real-time, so we keep our senses and reflexes quick and agile
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I TH I N K AN HON EST DI SCUSSION ... N E E DS TO BE HAD.” - PETER ADAMS ‘22
to be responsive.” ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. According to ICCSD Care Assessment Coordinator Dustin Gehring, district staff goes through this training every year and rotates between elementary and high school staff.
“We try to keep the staff as knowledgeable as possible. We know that it’s something we hope that never happens, but we want to be as prepared as possible,” Gehring said. More training will happen this summer for members of the district’s care assessment team. Meetings for care assessment started in 2021. One of the main objectives of this team is monitoring the safety in schools and preventing violence, which the district plans to achieve through the Virginia Threat Assessment Model, a process consisting of a five-step decision tree. Using this model, the care assessment evaluates a reported threat, which later is classified as transient (low-level) or substantive (serious or very serious). Then, the team will respond to the threat accordingly, using methods such as restorative practices, mediation and mental health assessments. If needed, they will put in place a written care plan. “If there are any times that we feel that somebody is an actual danger, our number one job is to protect that person or persons from danger,” Gehring said. “We will maybe skip a few steps to protect them and then go back to the beginning and start to reassess, but we want to make sure that everybody’s safe within the school system.” With the focus of the Virginia Threat Assessment Model being on prevention, Gehring pin-
STUDENT STATISTICS HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IOWA’S NEW GUN PERMIT LAW?
DO YOU PREFER STRICTER OR LOOSER GUN LAWS?
92 students surveyed
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GUN OWNERSHIP BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC?
AGREE: 12%
STRICTER: 81.5%
LIKE IT: 20.7%
DISAGREE: 85.9%
LOOSER: 9.8%
DISLIKE IT: 52.2%
UNSURE: 2.2%
UNSURE: 8.7%
NEUTRAL: 27.2%
DO YOU OR A FAMILY MEMBER HAVE ACCESS TO A GUN? YES NO PREFER NOT TO SAY
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF GUN VIOLENCE? 100%
ACCESS TO GUNS: 50% MENTAL HEALTH: 29.3% CONFLICTS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS: 6.5% DRUG USE: 1.1%
0%
OTHER/UNSURE: 13.1%