Welcome to Words Matter with Katie Barlow and Joe Lockhart.

And now Katie's final word.

The shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado happened 20 years ago this week.

It has been 20 years since America watched in horror as its children were murdered

by gun violence at school.

A place that was at that point a safe space.

But in those 20 years, schools, the place where we send our children to grow and learn

and give back to this country, schools have changed.

Yes, teachers still come to work every day excited to grow young minds and teach our next

generation the way of the world.

But their classrooms, they look different now on this side of the 20 years since Columbine.

Desks that are supposed to be used for writing or painting, they have another purpose now.

Emergency barricades against a man with a gun wandering the hall.

Choirroom closets used to store music and instruments.

They have another purpose now.

A hiding place.

Windows used for letting in sunlight and maybe daydreaming are now dangerous entry points.

Hallways are for running and doorways are for fleeing.

It's not what the parts of our schools should be, but too often and for too many young

people, that is what they have become since Columbine.

So for today's final word, we give you two sisters who survived that day in Columbine

Colorado and just recently ran the Boston Marathon race together.

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