SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Saturday was a somber anniversary as the country observed seven years since 26 people were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

26 first graders and six educators were killed at the Newtown school on December 14, 2012.

According to a news release sent to 22News, every year since 2012, teachers across the district come together in memory of this tragedy.

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The procession began at Springfield City Hall Saturday morning and crossed the Memorial Bridge. There, they held a ceremony in memory of those killed.

“While it happened down in CT it could have been any of our classrooms,” said Roni Gold. “All of us are teachers here today, to know that our colleagues suffered like that, we stand with them and will never forget.”

“Something has to change,” Gold noted. “The only way to make sure something changes is to never forget about what happened.”

Similar memorial services were held across the country Saturday as Americans remembered those innocent lives taken.

(WWLP contributed to this report)