Students and staff at the high school in Taber, Alberta, have cancelled classes this afternoon. They're gathering to remember Jason Lang, a 17-year-old who was shot to death in the school's hallway a year ago.

Today's private ceremony is being held as part of a healing process. The principal at W.R. Myers High School also hopes it will calm rising anxiety levels among the students with the first anniversary of the shooting only days away.

Lang's murder last April brought a lot of unwanted attention to the school. And principal Don Gellatly says the 500 teenagers who attend W.R. Myers are still trying to cope.

W.R. Myers high school

"They're struggling with it a little bit. They're waiting for everybody to just quit focusing on Taber," says Gellatly. "Quit, stay away from Myers."

He says stress levels are rising amongst students and staff, a year after the shooting.

"The anniversary date is a very significant date for the healing process for the event," says Gellatly. "So we have planned a memorial service for students and parents and staff. We're hoping to build on the concept of hope and the future."

Don Gellatly

Diane Lang will be there. She says she still misses her son, Jason, every single day.

"You need to have some sort of anniversary, remembrance, memorial going on," she says. "I think it's absolutely essential, you know, for some closure to this."

The Langs, who are deeply religious, publicly forgave their son's killer within days of the shooting. Diane Lang believes that has helped the community to find some peace. The teen charged in the shooting remains at a Calgary detention centre, awaiting trial.