VOICES OF CHANGE
Feb. 14, 2018: The day that changed everything. In an act that then-Gov. Rick Scott called “just absolutely pure evil,” 17 students and educators were killed and 17 others were injured in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. Healing has been slow, but the Parkland community pushes on. Photos by Mike Stocker, reporting by Doreen Christensen,
It’s been a painful struggle to heal after a gunman stole everything on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The journey is slow as victims and families push through the trauma and darkness of that day. Some never will be whole again, but they say love and support from family, friends and the community helps them slog through a bottomless grief. They also find solace in writing, therapy, yoga and mostly in using their voices to demand action on gun violence and to make schools safer. While some say their passage from anger to acceptance sometimes seems in doubt, of one thing they are certain: Change will come.
Amy Kenny
Marjory Stoneman Douglas teacher Amy Kenny teaches yoga and meditation at the school and in the community to help students, staff and families heal. “My mission is to bring light where there is darkness,” she says. “Everybody has their place. My place is helping kids heal.” Kinney started Yoga4MSD.org, a nonprofit organization to help students become certified yoga instructors so they, too, can help soothe trauma and spread peace.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who heads the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Commission investigating the massacre, says many things can easily be done to make schools safer without spending a dime. “We owe it to the victims down there to do everything we can to ensure that all the kids in the state are going to be as safe as they can possibly be," he says. "Make no mistake...[a shooting is] going to happen again."
Aalayah Eastmond
Stoneman Douglas senior Aalayah Eastmond is haunted by the memory of shielding herself from the rain of bullets behind a dead classmate. She shared her harrowing story testifying before Congress on Feb. 6. “The word ‘healing’ is undefined for me right now,” says Eastmond. “But I know my activism has helped me a lot. Being able to connect with people who can relate to the trauma…has really helped me to know that I’m not alone.”
Grace Briden
After an alarm sounded, a security monitor forced Grace Briden and other students back into the safety of their classroom in the 100 building. “We heard the gunshots on the radio. I knew it was real,” says Briden, now a junior. “The whole time, I was very nervous and very scared for my life.” After the tragedy, she trained her dog Duncan to become a certified therapy dog to comfort others. “He helped me find my passion to do therapy work through animals. He’s the best.”
Ernie Rospierski
Before a code red was called, a fire alarm sounded and social studies teacher Ernie Rospierski evacuated his class on the third floor of the 1200 building. During the chaos, his door locked behind him with his keys on his desk. Then the gunman started shooting. Since then, Rospierski says he has “been very careful to avoid the what ifs. Because... dealing with what happened is a lot, is enough as it is.”
Jeff Schwartz
Parkland historian Jeff Schwartz is overseeing the preservation of the thousands of memorials left at the school after the shooting. Florida Atlantic University is preserving and cataloging objects honoring each victim. “These items are extensions of the individuals that lost their lives,” Schwartz says. “Having them with us is definitely an aid in healing.” At some point, the 17 families of the victims will have the opportunity to look at their loved one’s memorials and select what they would like to have, he says.
Sarah Lerner
English teacher Sarah Lerner edited "Parkland Speaks," a book by Stoneman Douglas students, alumni and teachers that tells stories of courage and resilience. “Trying to find joy in things can be hard sometimes,” Lerner says. “I don’t think any of us will get back to where we were. I think we’re all changed, but I think we’re all stronger.”
Doug Zeif
Doug Zeif ’s son, Sam, was best friends with Joaquin Oliver, who died in the massacre. "We’ve been shot. None of us will ever be the same from this occurrence. None of these kids will ever celebrate Valentine’s Day the same way again,” Zeif says. He wants to see safe schools, safe shopping malls, safe sporting events, safe highway and byways. “All these kids in Parkland and Coral Springs have kept their foot on the gas pedal as far as getting these changes done,” he says. “We can’t let up. We just won’t let up.”
Madalyn Snyder
As armed SWAT teams rushed Madalyn Snyder out of the freshman building, she saw her friend Joaquin Oliver slumped on the floor near the bathroom. “I feel a lot of guilt for hiding instead of protecting others,” she says. After the massacre, she “couldn’t find pleasure in any activity because I felt so guilty that I was one of the lucky ones.” To help herself and others move forward, she wrote a first-person essay in the book “Parkland Speaks.” “Every day is a blessing. You should live each day as if it’s your last.”
Heather Chapman
After the tragedy, Heather Chapman launched a new Parkland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The group is helping to make inroads to change, she says, citing more than 50 laws passed to stem gun violence since the Parkland shooting. “I’m hopeful. I personally think I can have some kind of influence on it. I'm not stopping until I do.”
Mayor Christine Hunschofsky
Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky says there are many types of therapies available for those who are hurting. You make a choice to get back up, move forward and speak out, she says. “That never means forgetting... but not letting it define who we are, and not letting the evil that we witnessed that day take away our hope and our faith that there is good in this world and that we can all make a difference.”