It’s been four years since students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland learned what it was like to be stalked by a killer in a place they thought was safe. Since they learned how it felt to flee or hide as gunshots rang out; to be held for hours without knowing what was happening; to hear the names, one by one, of the people who died that day.
In the following weeks, they learned about the heroism of people such as athletic director Chris Hixon, who was shot and killed as he ran toward the sound of gunfire, and assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who died shielding two other students. They learned how 14-year-old Cara Loughran tried to save Meadow Pollack after she was shot — only to have the shooter return and murder them both. They learned how 15-year-old Peter Wang died, holding doors open so others could escape.
And their education was just beginning.
