The West Liberty-Salem community will come together to show their gratitude to the school staff and first responders who were a part of the Jan. 20 shooting at the high school. <\/p>\n
The community will hold the West Liberty-Salem Strong Appreciation Luncheon from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Champaign County Fairgrounds, featuring food, speakers and a kids zone. <\/p>\n
RELATED:West Liberty suspect asked victim to shoot him, report says <\/p>\n
Ely Serna, 17, has been accused of sneaking a shotgun into West-Liberty Salem High School on Jan. 20 and shooting 16-year-old Logan Cole twice. Authorities said Logan was shot in the chest and the side in one of the schools bathrooms. He isstill recovering from the wounds but has returned to classes part-time. <\/p>\n
The community has come together since then and decided to honor the schools staff and first responders with a luncheon. <\/p>\n
We wanted to show the appreciation and the love that they deserve to have because of how they handled it, said Seth Merriman, a parent of two students in the district and member of West Liberty Strong. <\/p>\n
They reached out and took care of the children during that stressful time, he said. <\/p>\n
I have an 8-year-old son and a 10-year-old son, theyre in the third and fifth grades, said Merriman. They were shocked. They were kind of baffled that it had happened. Altogether they were pretty calm and everything was OK and I believe its because of the way the school handled the situation. <\/p>\n
Merriman said school staff kept the childrens mind off it by keeping them in a safe environment and distracting them with movies until they were released to him. <\/p>\n
He hopes the luncheon will show the staff and first responders how grateful he and others are. <\/p>\n
The cost of the event is $10 and that includes four kids zone passes. Proceeds from the event will go to the staff and first responders and Merriman said from there they will decide how they would like to spend it. <\/p>\n
Those passes will allow children access to games, face painting among other things while the luncheon is taking place. <\/p>\n
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West Liberty to honor staff, first responders from school shooting - Springfield News Sun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The West Liberty-Salem community will come together to show their gratitude to the school staff and first responders who were a part of the Jan. 20 shooting at the high school. The community will hold the West Liberty-Salem Strong Appreciation Luncheon from noon to 5 p.m Continue reading