Teachers Honored for Heroism

The West Virginia House of Delegates has honored two who helped keep their students safe when a boy held a high school class hostage. The House recognized Twila Smith and Jennifer Swift at the Capitol on Monday. At Philip Barbour High School in August, a 14-year-old freshman took Smith’s class hostage at gunpoint. She tried to keep him and the other students calm during the incident. Swift had come over from another classroom, saw what was going on and alerted school administrators. Police and the boy’s pastor ultimately talked him into giving up without harming himself or others.