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As schools begin to reopen nearly two weeks late following the police shooting of an unarmed African American man, education is being looked to as a way to heal the wounds inflicted on the city’s students.

After mass protests and violent clashes between residents and police, the city in St. Louis County is trying to get back on its feet, beginning with the normalcy of a new school year.

The true extent of Ferguson Missouri’s racial inequalities was exposed for all to see on August 9th, when one of its white police officers fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. The events that followed revealed how removed residents are from the town’s power structure. Now teachers in the overwhelmingly African American suburban town are shouldering the responsibility of helping guide their students who have been affected.

School employees, from administrators to teachers and bus drivers, have undergone training sessions to help them identify students in need of assistance.

Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, spoke out strongly against the racial and social inequalities plaguing both Ferguson and other cities across America.

“At a time like this, when an unarmed student was gunned down, we must mourn and we must investigate, as President Obama has promised to do,” said Weingarten. “We must come together and act, which starts with both healing and respecting peaceful protest.”

Part of the healing process will begin in classrooms, where teachers can begin helping students understand the root causes behind not only the shooting, but also the social imbalances feeding the tensions and violence.

Some schools are even looking to incorporate the events of the last two weeks into the curriculum to educate students about the bigger social issues, and to better connect them with their peers from diverse backgrounds.