LAKE MARY, Fla. — One day after an 11th grade student took her own life at a Seminole County school, the community is still trying to grapple with what happened.

Classes are canceled at Lake Mary High School on Thursday as Friday starts spring break for students.

However, grief counselors will be on hand for the next two days to help students cope with the loss of their classmate. They will be available from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

A mental health counselor expressed the importance of crisis intervention and sharing feelings.

"I think it's really important to get out their feelings when they're struggling. If you have intense emotions, it's worse to keep it inside. So to get it out, crisis counselors are very skilled and they can tease out the emotions and help students come up with coping skills," said Jill Spannagel of Community Based Care of Central Florida.

For the last 30 years, Spannagel, a licensed clinical social worker, has been in the field. She said that crisis intervention is key in combating a potential ripple effect in the community.

"It's very devastating and very scary, especially if with school shootings, if students heard gunshots. I'm sure everybody was terrified," she said. "It may trigger their own, if they've had any sort of trauma experiences in the past. They may have been suicidal themselves in the past. Sometimes this can trigger an event where more kids become suicidal,"

After 7:48 Wednesday morning, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma says a 17-year-old student walked into an isolated area of the auditorium and shot herself.

The single shot sent the school into a brief code red lockdown. It is still part of the investigation as to how the handgun got into the school.

As law enforcement crowded the campus, they figured out what was going on and made sure other students were safe.

Students were given the option to go home, which many did.

During the press conference, Lemma​ focused much of his talk on mental health awareness, sharing candidly about his own experiences as a parent.

"I've got two boys, I want to be involved with them. I want to check their backpack, see what notes they're writing. If they cry out for help and resources, I want to make sure they're getting the resources they have," said Sheriff Lemma. "Again, we have got to be involved, connected and minimize the likelihood that children are going to hurt themselves."

The Seminole County Public Schools explained that faculty and staff have participated in suicide prevention training.

However, there are more plans to do an online suicide prevention course for them as well.

There are four warning signs that mental health experts say people should lookt out for:

  • If you see children isolate themselves.
  • Good students suddenly slipping with grades.
  • Behavioral changes, like risky behavior.
  • Or even casual references to suicide.