COLUMBUS, Ohio – Educators across Ohio began training in Columbus Thursday for possible school shooting situations.

Officials from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, attorney general’s office and Ohio Department of Education offered training on identifying potential shooters and responding to shooting incidents.

“The fact that we are all here because of this, it is a sad day for me. You entered this field to help kids and I think this is just another phase of education,” Green Schools superintendent Michael Nutter said.

Nutter was one of about 200 educators and 60 law enforcement officers who took the first of ten school security courses yesterday in Columbus.

Two training sessions were scheduled at the Education Service Center of Central Ohio to teach educators how to protect students if an active shooter is in their school or classroom.

The session also tells school officials how they can identify a troubled student before a crime occurs, according to a release from the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

DeWine says the training is also designed to help educators and law enforcement work together to formulate a coordinated response plan.

The courses do not include firearm training.

Preparations for the course began after last year’s school shooting in Chardon (above) but DeWine says demand for the training increased significantly after December’s shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Eight additional regional courses are scheduled in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and the Athens area.

Educators can register at the Ohio Dept. of Education’s website; law enforcement officials can sign up through the Attorney General’s office.