Every year more than 300 high school and university administrators, teachers, police chiefs, first responders, safety professionals, and community leaders attend the National Student Safety & Security Conference and Workshop.

Their objective is to identify and share best practices concerning school safety, and help model a community process to stamp out school violence in all its forms, including shootings, bullying, dating violence, vandalism, gang activity, and catastrophic events such as school massacres.

The conference will also include an important hands-on feature — real-world simulations of community response to school shootings and related tragedies.

The tabletop exercises, moderated by risk communicators, will encourage extended audience participation and explore effective methods of communication, coordination and collaboration at the local level.