what we do

Ceasefire Northwest delivers practical, evidence-informed education to reduce firearm injury—reaching students, educators, and communities across Washington State.

Our work is organized in three core areas:

    • High school firearm injury prevention curriculum

    • Classroom presentations 

    • Age-appropriate program development (envisioning future work with students in primary and middle school)

    • Educator support and materials

  • What We’re Studying:

    Our research, in collaboration with the University of Washington FIRE (Firearm Injury Reduction Education) program, focuses on two main groups: students and teachers.

    • For students, we ask:

      • Do they learn the key lessons about firearm safety and injury prevention?

      • How do their attitudes toward firearms and safety change after receiving the education?

    • For teachers, we examine:

      • How they experience implementing the curriculum in their classrooms

      • Whether they find the education appropriate, high-quality, and necessary

      • What challenges or opportunities arise when teaching this material

    Groundbreaking Work:

    Over the past year and a half, we have collected detailed data in Washington State classrooms. Our study includes 755 students who received the curriculum, compared to 153 students in a control group across five schools. To our knowledge, this is the first study in the United States to systematically measure the effectiveness of high school firearm injury prevention education in this way.

    Why This Research Matters:

    • Understand the true impact of firearm injury prevention education on students

    • Identify areas where the curriculum can be improved

    • Provide teachers with evidence-based tools that are practical, safe, and effective

    • Guide policymakers and educators on best practices for school-based prevention

    • Community talks and workshops

    • Parent education

    • Training healthcare professionals

    • Training of Collaboration with local organizations

    • Public awareness efforts

impact

Since 2017 we have reached over 15,000 students in Washington State (over 30 schools and over 10 school districts)! We have yet to receive a complaint from a student, teacher, administrator or parent that our program is biased for or against firearm ownership. We have also launched a new research initiative on parent, teacher and school administrator attitudes toward firearm safety education and are partnering with healthcare and community organizations locally and nationally to expand our impact.

ENDORSEMENTS FOR FIREARM INJURY PREVENTION EDUCATION

Our approach works because we meet students where they are; we focus on real-life decision-making; we know effective education requires repetition over time; and our work is grounded in public health, not politics.

The following community members, advocacy group individuals and educators support this statement:

I (we) support the inclusion of age appropriate, public health informed firearm injury prevention classroom instruction for high school students in Washington State. I (we) believe that providing students with accurate information and practical tools can help reduce risk and promote safety.

  • Representative Strom Peterson

    Senator Jamie Pedersen

    Senator Claire Wilson

    Representative Gerry Pollet

    Representative Carolyn Eslick

    Senator Javier Valdez

    Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos

    Representative Monica Stonier

    Representative My-Linh Thai

    Senator T’wina Nobles

    Representative Steve Bergquist

    Representative Jamila Taylor

    Representative Liz Berry

    Representative Adison Richards

    Representative Tina Orwall

    Senator Adrian Cortes

  • Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

    Washington State Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma

    Washington Youth Alliance

    Horn of Africa

    Washington Academy of Family Physicians

    Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

    Washington State Medical Association

    King County Medical Society

  • Superintendent Joshua J. Garcia

    Superintendent John Belcher

    Mickey Lahmann, Assistant Superintendent Washington OSPI (retired)

    Bill Lahmann, Superintendent (retired)

“Dr. Gregory Engel is an amazing guest speaker on the “hot topic” of gun violence. His approach is not the typical one we read about in the news. He teaches the topic from a risk-management perspective, drawing on his experience as both an emergency room doctor as well as his deep knowledge of epidemiology.”

- Professor David R., Highline HS