Stoneman Douglas: Class of 2018 remembers those who aren’t there
Participants arrive for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduation ceremony on Sunday at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla.
SUNRISE, Fla. – The graduates of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High walked across the stage with pride but also pain on Sunday, vowing to never forget the fallen Eagles they lost on Feb. 14.
“Remember those not with us, and celebrate all the successes the Class of 2018 has brought to the community and the world!”
Those words, in a tweet posted Sunday by Ty Thompson, the principal of Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, seemed to capture the bittersweet tenor, both the joy and the sorrow of Sunday afternoon’s Class of 2018 graduation ceremony at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.
This was a ceremony of tears and promise, an emotional ride for both students and parents, but one that came with a warm reminder that the MSD family is one.
“We will never forget our fallen Eagles,” Julia Cordover, senior class president, told the crowd. “They will always be in our thoughts and in our hearts. Our struggle is part of our story. It doesn’t define us. Let it motivate us.”
Joaquin Oliver’s mother got rousing applause as she walked on stage to accept her son’s diploma wearing a bright yellow shirt that said: “This should be my son.”
The other three seniors killed in the Feb. 14 shooting – Nicholas Dworet, Meadow Pollack and Carmen Schentrup should have been there too. Loved ones and friends accepted their diplomas as well.
Family and friends walked on stage to accept the diplomas for the four seniors who were killed in the Feb. 14 shooting: Nicholas Dworet, Joaquin Oliver, Meadow Pollack and Carmen Schentrup.
Teacher Scott Beigel, Coach Aaron Feis and Coach Chris Hixon were each honored with the school’s Eagle Award.
“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon stunned the crowd with a surprise appearance as guest speaker. Students, teachers and parents cheered as Fallon took the stage Sunday afternoon, then took to Twitter to post photos and videos of his speech.
Fallon has been a staunch supporter of the Stoneman Douglas student activists since the Feb. 14 shooting and praised the students on his late-night show.
He is one of several celebrities who participated in the March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C., and sponsored buses for other activists.
“My wife and I brought our two little girls because we wanted them to see what hope and light looks like,” Fallon told MSD’S class of 2018.
Fallon, as comedians will do, made jokes – including warning them to lay off the carbs and to stay on their parents’ wireless plans for as long as they can.
But he also commended them for their strength and courage after the shooting – and offered words of hope.
“Every bad experience can have something good come out of it,” he said. “You guys have already proved that. You took something horrific – instead of letting it stop you, you started a movement, not just here in Florida but around the whole world. The whole world has heard your voice and that was you making a choice. And that was you choosing hope over fear.”