Abbey Clements

Statement in response to the Pawtucket, RI Ice Rink Shooting "Our hearts are with all impacted by this senseless act of violence and the entire Pawtucket community on a night meant to be celebratory. This trauma has impacted several school communities. In the aftermath, it's important to commit to supporting the educators and school staff who will be instrumental in holding these communities together."

Sending strength to all the school communities impacted by this tragedy.

Our Crisis Intervention and Support Team is here. It’s ok to ask for help — response@teachersunify.org and (203) 296-3689.

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Thank you, @gvpedia.bsky.social! ☮️📚📓

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Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence Turns 4 An interview with co-founder and survivor, Abbey Cements

December, 2025, marked the 4th birthday for the educator-focused GVP group, Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence. Check out our new interview with co-founder and Sandy Hook survivor, Abbey Clements. @teachersunify.bsky.social
#GVP #gunviolenceawareness #teachers #SandyHook

RoundUp Spare change, Big impact Please consider donating your spare change to fund our programs at Teachers Unify! • choose a MC or Visa to round up your purchases to the next whole dollar • it's tax deductable • you can set a limit, if you'd like • sign up at RoundUp.org Thank you for your ongoing support! @teachersunify

Please consider rounding up for Teachers Unify! ☮️📓📚 www.roundup.org/nonprofit/ct...

Looking forward to this—join us!!

#edusky join me for this important conversation

Join hosts Liesl and Sydney at our Community Meetings - all are welcome - • meet featured guests • build connection • take action TEACHERS UNIFY TO END GUN VIOLENCE

Excited to announce that Teachers Unify Community Meetings are back! Join us on January 28th, 7pm EST! Many thanks to our incredible Ambassadors, Sydney and Liesl, for relaunching this important opportunity for connection, support & action. Register here: shorturl.at/afM6f Hope to see you there! ☮️❤️‍🩹📚

Minneapolis schools cancel classes after Border Patrol clash disrupts dismissal at Roosevelt Minneapolis schools closed for the week citing safety concerns after an encounter involving armed Border Patrol agents near Roosevelt High School.

Even when gun violence happens outside of school, our school communities are impacted. Schools have closed for the rest of the week in Minneapolis and the entire state of Minnesota is struggling — teachers, students, and families will be focused on anything but learning for quite a while. ❤️‍🩹☮️

The Boston Blobe "Our kids shouldn't go to school and fear that they're going to be killed." - Sydney Chaffee

The Boston Blobe "We don't dream of lockdown drills. We don't get into the profession and say, 'Oh, I can't wait until I can step into my first classroom and figure out which furniture I'm going to use to block the door. We don't dream of, I can't wait to be able to console my kids when they've lost someone or attending our students' funerals. That's not why we're in this field." - Sydney Chaffee

The Boston Blobe "There's a look' teachers give one another in the aftermath of school shootings. It's like, 'Can you even believe this continues to happen over and over?' And without talking, teachers know what that means," - Abbey Clements

After the Brown University tragedy, Sydney (2017 Nat’l Teacher of the Year & TU Ambassador) & Abbey (TU co-founder & Sandy Hook survivor) spoke with @bostonglobe.com. We refuse to normalize this!

Crisis Team help: response@teachersunify.org | (203) 296-3689 ☮️💔❤️‍🩹📚

"Gun violence is a public health crisis. We knew we had to do something because in every part of gun violence prevention, the teacher voice was missing. And we knew that we needed to have a seat at the table and be able to talk about these things from our perspective as classroom teachers." - Sarah Lerner, Teachers Unify co-founder & Podcast host, survivor-educator of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS tragedy

Thank you, Michelle White Mendoza, of KIQI 1010 AM San Francisco — “Información Es Poder,” for uplifting Sarah’s story and Teachers Unify. ☮️📚📓

School Stories: Sofia Gonzalez Sofia, a Teachers Unify Ambassador, educator-leader, and activist from Chicago, shares her experience losing students to gun violence and her fierce commitment to safe schools and communities.

“The first two year of teaching, instead of graduating my students, I felt like I was burying them more to gang and to gun violence,” — Sofia Gonzalez, Teachers Unify Ambassador, teacher, education leader, activist. 🎧 here & subscribe to our Substack! ☮️📚📓 @teachersunifypc.bsky.social

This episode features Sofia Gonzalez, an educator from Chicago. She talks about losing students to gun violence, what brought her to education & navigating as an activist. She shares an excerpt of an essay & gives suggestions for change. @teachersunify.bsky.social teachersunify.transistor.fm/56

Thank you for decades of leadership on gun violence prevention and for uplifting educator voices and @teachersunify.bsky.social! Proud to work alongside you. Here’s to a safe 2026! ☮️📓📚❤️‍🩹

A black-and-white photo of Abbey Clements on a light blue background accompanied with a quote from her in dark text that reads: “On the morning of December 14, 2012, my students and I were in morning meeting when we heard what sounded like metal chairs falling—but they were gunshots. One hundred fifty-four shots. Kids, teachers, and staff should be safe at school.” - Abbey Clements, Connecticut, momentsthatsurvive.org

Abbey Clements read and sang to her second-grade students in an effort to drown out the sound of gunfire as the lives of 20 first graders and six of her colleagues were stolen at Sandy Hook School in 2012.

“I still hold within me clear feelings and images of that horrific day,” shared Abbey.

Survivor Stories: Teachers Unify Crisis Intervention & Support Team This episode features members of the Teachers Unify To End Gun Violence Crisis Intervention & Support Team who attended the inaugural Summit in Philadelphia from Nov. 7-9, 2025.

Listen to the voices behind this unique team of survivor educators committed to helping others in school communities navigate the aftermath of fear and impact of gun violence. Please spread the word about us: response@teachersunify.org. ☮️📚📓 @teachersunifypc.bsky.social

SAVE THE DATE 1/28/2026 Join us at 7:00 EST for Our 2026 Community Meeting Kickoff!

Our Teachers Unify Community Meetings are back in 2026! Mark your calendar for our kickoff on 1/28 at 7pm EST. Registration link forthcoming.

All educators, allies, and supporters are welcome!

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WE WISH YOU A safe & happy holiday season & new year Thank you for your ongoing support!

We’re incredibly grateful for our Teachers Unify community—dedicated volunteers, partners, allies & supporters who refuse to accept gun violence as inevitable. Thank you for standing with us & raising our collective voice for change. Wishing you & your loved ones a safe, happy & healthy 2026! ☮️📚📓

Our December 2025 Newsletter is out — 📖 about:

☮️ The life-saving importance of secure firearm storage — and why school communities must be part of the solution
☮️ Our upcoming collaboration
☮️ Voices from the classroom

#BooksNotBullets
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SUPPORT Crisis to Care • Survivor-led Crisis Intervention & Support Team • 50+ hours of recovery training • Community relationship building & programming

Thank you for standing with us! No one should be killed, shot, or traumatized at school! @teachersunify Reach our Crisis Intervention & Support Team: response@teachersunify.org / 203-296-3689

#BooksNotBullets
#EndGunViolence
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2025 Impact Leadership. Action. Support.

WHY THIS WORK MATTERS On the Frontlines In 2025, educators carried the fear and impact of gun violence alongside students and families. There have been at least 75 school/university shootings this year & an average of 57 incidents in/around schools every day. (CNN, The Trace)

LEADERSHIP Team Building • National educator & survivor network • First Leadership Summit • 2 new staff roles • 2 new Senior Advisors • 12 new Ambassadors • Retired Teachers Cohort

ACTION Voices for Change • Project Lockdown - secure storage & prevention • 15,000+ educators & allies engaged • 17 new Teachers Unify Podcast episodes

The fear & impact of gun violence have no place in our schools & communities. In 2025, we took action—building networks, organizing & training, providing survivor-led support & amplifying voices for change. ❤️‍🩹☮️📚📓 www.teachersunify.org www.projectlockdown.org
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Thank you for standing with us! TEACHERS UNIFY TO END GUN VIOLENCE Leadership. Action. Support. #BooksNotBullets

As we wrap up 2025, please consider making an end-of-year donation and sharing this with your circles. We have big plans ahead, and your support makes them possible. ☮️📚📓❤️‍🩹

Thank you — here’s to a safe 2026!
donate.teachersunify.org/a/donate

Survivor Stories: Alex Fleming This episode features Alex Fleming, a drive-by shooting survivor. She talks about her experience, the aftermath, and the importance of teacher-led advocacy.

“I truly believe that if anything’s going to change, it’s going to be the school conversation that is going to be the one that changes things.” ❤️‍🩹☮️📚@teachersunifypc.bsky.social

This episode features Alex Fleming, a gun violence survivor. She talks about her experience & journey as a drive-by shooting survivor, the importance of the teacher-voice, the advocacy work she’s done and more. @teachersunify.bsky.social teachersunify.transistor.fm/55

We're 70,000+ educators, allies, and supporters strong! Join us in the fight for safe schools and communities!

We envision a future where schools and communities are safe from gun violence. Educators deserve a seat at every table shaping solutions. Our voices are vital. Join us and spread the word: shorturl.at/KWzwo
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"I3 years ago the shooting at Sandy Hook School shocked the country and the nation grieved with us. Now school shootings happen so frequently that though it is always heartbreaking, no one is shocked anymore. Our community of school shooting survivors has grown, but we can help each other through the trauma and the grief."

"The heaviness that overtook all of us creeps back each year, but knowing that we are not alone lightens the load and keeps me reaching out for connection."

"We can imagine the unimaginable. We endured it. Precious lives were taken. The rest of us carry the memories as we continue our journey. We are working to cultivate a reality where kids get to grow up and learn, where families get to continue creating memories with their loved ones. I believe in our future."

"Those who were taken that day and every day by gun violence should still be here, and those who are impacted shouldn't have to experience what they do. We're fighting for them, our friends, our colleagues, our students."

Robin , Liesl, Amy & Abbey were teaching their students on the day of the Sandy Hook School tragedy on 12/14/12. They’re members of our Crisis Intervention & Support Team & believe in the power of connecting with others who experience similar trauma. Reach us at response@teachersunify, 203-296-3689.

Shortly after the shooting, Abbey became a passionate advocate for gun safety. In 2021, she co-founded @teachersunify.bsky.social, an organization to give a voice to educators who navigate the anxiety and trauma of gun violence in their classrooms on a daily basis.

IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY! Four Years of TEACHERS UNIFY TO END GUN VIOLENCE # Books NatBullets THANK YOU FOR YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT!

We started because educators were being left out of crucial conversations & knew that had to change. In 4 years we’ve:
🍎 Empowered thousands of educators
☮️ Helped shape research & policy
📓 Built a Crisis Intervention & Support Team
📚 Amplified secure firearm storage

This is just the beginning!

Our hearts are with the entire Brown University community. #BooksNotBullets #EndGunViolence @teachersunify

Students, faculty, and staff should be safe from the fear, trauma, and impact of gun violence. No one should be killed, shot, or traumatized at school!
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