Many Kentuckians bleed blue and white, but we were happy to see lots of orange last week.

Clark Countians did their part to show support for the Marshall County High School and the entire community after the tragic Jan. 23  shooting that killed two 15-year-old students and injured more than a dozen others.

Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt asked all Kentuckians to wear the school’s colors last Friday to show support and share the photos on social media with the hashtag #MarshallStrong.

“The healing and recovery process will be long, and after the spotlight on this tragedy dims, it is important that the residents of Marshall County know they are still on our minds and in our hearts,” Pruitt said last week. “Our state’s residents are resilient and pull together in times of trouble. I will be wearing blue and orange on Friday, and hope you will join me.”

So many people did.

Our state continues to come together during this time of healing, an important process that will never be fully complete. Our hearts go out to all the families impacted.

We also hope this sparks conversation about all the factors involved here: school safety measures, gun control, mental health counseling, bullying and so many more.

We will never be able to fully prevent tragedies like this from occurring because humans are flawed and it is impossible to legislate against those who want to hurt others. But we can have constructive discussions about these important topics in ways that transcend politics, demographics, socio-economic issues and more.

Donning an orange shirt or other article of clothing may have seemed like a small gesture but it is an important step toward helping Marshall County heal and unifying all of Kentucky.