Upon hearing the news Byrd Elementary School was under consideration of being closed down, parents, teachers and community members began finding different ways to help save the school.

One unique way that has since been created is the website savebyrdschool.com.

Emery Hicks, the creator of the site, said he decided to make it a few days after the announcement.

“The goal of savebyrdschool.com is to create a central location where people can stand behind a school that is an anchor in this community,” Hicks said.

The site has an online petition, information about the school, listings of school board meeting dates and links to different news stories about the school.

Hicks said he hoped as many people as possible would find the site and sign the petition.

“We don’t have a number in mind,” Hicks said. “We just want as many as possible.”

Dorothy Reeves, president of Byrd’s Parent-Teacher Organization, said she was thrilled when she saw the site.

“It’s exactly what we need as a way to spread the word about saving Byrd. I know a lot of people have been talking about it. I just found out about it yesterday,” Reeves said.

Reeves said she would spread the word about the website during the next PTO meeting.

Hicks said the beauty of the website is it allows a number of people access to the site that would not be available more than 20 years ago.

“A website like this only takes a few hours to create and has the potential to be seen by and communicate with thousands of people,” he said. “One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is it lets us create an opportunity for people to be a part of the conversation.”