School counselors, members of local law enforcement, and school administrators are working together with Sandy Hook Promise to prepare for a series of training and awareness programs to begin in Tyrrell County Schools this fall, Dr. Will Hoffman, superintendent, has announced.

Sandy Hook Promise is a non-profit organization that provides programs and practices that protect children from gun violence.

These free programs not only help students and staff learn to recognize and report threats, they also teach strategies that can be used to combat isolation, the threat of suicide, and potential violence.

Included in the training is Say Something, “an education and awareness program that provides tools and practices to recognize the signs and signals of a potential threat (especially in social media), teach and instill in participants how to take action, and drive awareness and reinforce the need” for this type of program.

The Say Something program also includes an anonymous 24/7 reporting feature. All reports are managed by trained crisis

care professionals who assess and triage each tip to determine the level of threat and when to alert local law enforcement and school officials.

By building a culture of “looking out for one another” and reporting possible threats of violence when someone sees, reads or hears something (especially within social media), entire communities will become safer and lives will be saved, Sandy Hook Promise leaders declare.