Cloquet school staff finish active shooter training

With training conducted Friday at Cloquet Middle School, staff at all of the Cloquet schools have now completed a new-to-them “active shooter” training, which focuses on giving staff and students tools to react to situations in which a person is shooting inside the school.

Rather than teach them to lock the door, hide under desks and do nothing, ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform 911, Counter and Evacuate) trains teachers, staff and students to respond actively. They learn to evacuate if they can, barricade if they can’t, and they practice techniques to distract or interfere with a shooter’s ability to shoot accurately.

For now, the plan in Cloquet is to train only the teachers, who will be encouraged to share their knowledge in the classroom. Several other Carlton County school districts participated in ALICE training in August 2018, including Carlton, Wrenshall, Esko, Cromwell and Barnum.

School Resource Officer Eric Blesener conducted the training in Cloquet, with the help of volunteers.