Twenty years ago.
Twenty years ago today, Columbine High School was the site of the largest and deadliest school shooting to date. It has only been surpassed by the events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 2/14/18.
I spent most of the day in a fog. I have met survivors from Columbine. The school name is interchangeable with the event. You don’t need say anything other than the name of the school, and the context is understood. It’s like calling tissues Kleenex or calling making copies Xerox.
I tweeted the following at 10:34:
I had the chance to listen to Paula Reed in January. She taught at Columbine up until she retired a few years ago. She was on campus that day. I met Jami Amo in October at the Student Gun Violence Summit in Washington, DC. She was a junior in high school in 1999.
I know that many people look at the events at MSD the same way they do of Columbine. People say Parkland and MSD, and you automatically know what happened and what they’re talking about. We’ve become a footnote in history.
I am a part of a survivor network. A group of people connected by gun violence. The life-long impact of something so traumatic looks different on everyone, and it’s really hard to know exactly how it manifests itself. I see what 20 years from now will look like just in the same way they see the first few years after in my experience.
My whole teaching career has been under the shadow of Columbine. The rest of my life will be under the shadow of MSD and Parkland.
I have promised to work the rest of my life to fight for gun reform. I owe it to the victims of Columbine, Sandy Hook, Pulse, Las Vegas, MSD/Parkland.
Remember their names: Cassie Bernall (17), Steven Curnow (14), Corey DePooter (17), Kelly Fleming (16), Matthew Kechter (16), Daniel Mauser (15), Daniel Rohrbough (15), William “Dave” Sanders (47), Rachel Scott (17), Isaiah Shoels (18), John Tomlin (16), Lauren Townsend (18), Kyle Velasquez (16). May their memories be a blessing.
I call on ALL lawmakers and presidential candidates to actively work to make change – not just campaign promises.
End gun violence.