But setting that aside, until recent decades schools were not routinely attacked by gun-wielding misfits, so as that circumstance changed perhaps celebrating gun culture in schools seemed like a poor idea—at least to those who don’t buy the NRA’s gun industry sponsored propaganda that the solution to gun violence is to make sure every fool is carrying one…

It wasn't a major part of any curriculum, but that's similar to D.A.R.E. It was usually (in my experience) a lesson or two on what to do if you came across a gun (and the opposite of celebrating it - don't touch it and leave to tell an adult; although some places let older kids take hunter safety education). But also, many schools (including colleges) used to have marksmanship teams. Many of those have been shutdown over the years. PSU used to have a team. They were regulated out of existence with nonsensical ever increasing demands (like everyone on the team needs to be a certified instructor or range safety officer, when in reality you only need one or two present).

How does carrying firearms fit into this? That generally has nothing to do with firearm safety education in schools. Perhaps this, and the language used, is an indication that this is a highly politicized issue.