DENVER -- Three years after their daughter was killed by an armed intruder at Platte Canyon High School, the parents of Emily Keyes are gaining national attention for a school safety program called the "Standard Response Protocol."

In September 2006, John-Michael and Ellen Stoddard-Keyes' daughter Emily was one of several teenagers held hostage for several hours by a gunman inside an English classroom at the school.

According to SWAT members who tried to negotiate with the gunman, Emily was the voice of reason inside the classroom, trying to keep things calm and allowing the other students to escape.

Unfortunately, the gunman fatally shot Emily in the head as SWAT officers rushed in and shot him.

"This thing changed our lives. You can't go back on that, so we go forward, make something positive from it," said Ellen.

In the three years since their daughter's death, the couple has focused on enhancing school safety, from the recent trouble with "sexting" to an all out armed assault on a school.

In researching and building the Standard Response Protocol, the Keyes discovered problems with how incidents in schools are handled.

"One of the lessons learned from Platte Canyon was they called a Code White. What's that mean? Is that the good code or the bad code versus Code Red? And so one of the lessons learned from Platte Canyon is let's use natural language," said John-Michael.

"Lockdown means different things in different schools and this would actually corral it to where this would mean a specific thing. There are different levels of lockdown and so forth so that when a parent hears that their school is under lockdown they have a better understanding," Ellen said.

"'Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter' define the standard response protocol and what's happened is districts across the country are looking at this and saying, 'That makes sense to share a language between students and staff and first responders,'" Emily's father told CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia.

The Standard Response Protocol would essentially create a universal language used by teachers, schools, police, fire and students with regard to incidents in schools.

And it's catching on.

The Keyes have presented their idea to school districts around Colorado and recently, around the nation. Some, including the Jefferson County School District, are implementing the plan.

John-Michael told 7NEWS, "We've nailed down the very specific vocabulary and the actions associated with the vocabulary into the Standard Response Protocol and schools are embracing it. Part of the protocol is that you're absolutely straightforward with everyone involved in the incident. Kids are smart. Tell them what's going on, because if you don't their imagination is going to imagine far, far worse."

The Keyes ultimate goal is to make the Standard Response Protocol a nationwide program that all teachers and first responders are required to know and understand and that students are taught early in the academic careers.

"You have substitutes going from school to school and learning different things at every school. By being consistent across the district those subs know what to do. And that's one in eight. One in eight of every teacher is a substitute today," said John-Michael. "If it weren't for the events at Platte Canyon, I don't think we would have looked at the issues we are looking it. The ability to talk about it is important and that advocacy has been an amazing gift. It's a voice that people respond to."

Additional Resources:

To learn more about the foundation created on behalf of Emily Keyes, the I Love U Guys Foundation, go to www.iloveyouguys.org.