Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Gene Kennedy Reporting Utah joins the nation in a day of mourning today, remembering those killed in the massacre at Virginia Tech.
Ironically, on this day of remembrance there was a "School Public Safety Conference" already scheduled to take place at the Jordon campus of the Salt Lake Community College.
At 10:00 a.m., administrators, principals and teachers from across the state bowed their heads in silence.
Before that, Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. spoke. He didn't mention Virginia Tech specifically but did say that national tragedies remind us how vigilant we have to be when it comes to school safety. He encouraged violence prevention programs, self-esteem building, teacher training and strong parental involvement. "When we drop our kids off that front door, we think every day, ‘Are they safe?,'" said Huntsman.
Deputy Austin Turner with the Summit County Sheriff's Department said, "All the events that happen around the country is on everybody's mind in this conference. We're all concerned and thinking about what we could do better to help protect our kids."
Education Specialist Jane Zhang said, "The conference theme is safety schools, safe kids, so we'll try to promote this."
Summit County Sheriff's Office Deputy Austin Turner said, "All the events that happened around the country are on everybody's mind at this conference. We're all concerned and thinking about what we could do better to help protect our kids."
Students and faculty at Judge Memorial High School also paid their respects this morning. But they weren't dressed in their red and gold uniforms. Instead they went with orange and maroon, Virginia Tech's colors.
Governor Huntsman has asked that all flags be lowered to half mast through Sunday.
