Two Waco associations bring safety teacher training course to local educators

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Educators in Waco are going the extra mile to protect their students. So the Greater Waco American Federation of Teachers and Waco Texas State Teachers Association brought a safety teacher training course to teachers.

“We will talk about the protection of students, tactics for denying an intruder entry into a classroom or school facility, tactics for defending and protecting your students, and interaction of license holders with first responders,” said Johnny Price, the DPS certified LTC instructor.

It was an effort they started about a decade ago after a 20-year-old man opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 children and 6 adults lost their lives.

The full program is several hours long, but in this condensed version of the course that still engaged educators on learning these new tactics in case they ever need them.

This training session for Waco teachers comes after a six-year-old brought a pistol to his Virginia elementary school and shot his teacher.

The instructor said that even small things the district can do, can make a difference for their overall safety. To put that into perspective, Price showed an example video of a student pulling roughly 20 guns out of his baggy jeans.

Waco ISD is no stranger to potential threats to their students, and because of that questions sparked among teachers on how to best defend their students.

The main message for Thursday’s meeting was to avoid, deny, and defend.

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