The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre a year ago renewed the national debate on guns and school safety, turned some victims鈥� parents and surviving students into political activists and at least temporarily ended the local sheriff鈥檚 career.
But Thursday鈥檚 anniversary will primarily be about remembering the 14 students and three staff members who died in the third high-profile mass shooting in Florida since 2016. An interfaith service will be held at a Parkland park, near the school, to remember the victims.
Students also will perform service projects and observe a moment of silence and a non-denominational, temporary temple will open in neighbouring Coral Springs for people to pay their respects. The structure will later be burned in a purification ceremony. Security throughout the community and at schools will be high.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need (the anniversary) to remind us what happened. We live with it every day,鈥� said businessman Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter Meadow died in the attack. He met with President Donald Trump at the White House after the shooting and became an adviser to Gov. Ron DeSantis and his predecessor, Rick Scott. Other fathers like Fred Guttenberg and Manuel Oliver have become active in Democratic politics.
And victims鈥� relatives from both sides helped lead the successful push to remove Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. DeSantis suspended the Democratic sheriff last month, citing incompetence in his handling of the shooting. Israel is fighting the suspension in the state Senate and says he will try to win back the office in next year鈥檚 election.
The massacre also led some Stoneman Douglas students to form the group 鈥淢arch for Our Lives,鈥� which holds rallies nationwide calling for tougher gun regulations and toured the country registering young adults to vote.
鈥淚t was the kids themselves that made Parkland an unusual shooting,鈥� said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and gun rights expert. Just in Florida, 49 people died in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and five died at Fort Lauderdale鈥檚 airport in 2017. There have been other notable mass shootings across the country during that period 鈥� at a Las Vegas concert, a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Texas high school. But none resonated politically like Stoneman Douglas.
鈥淲hat we haven鈥檛 seen is a mobilization of the students in quite the same way,鈥� Winkler said.
But Thursday will be mostly a day to push aside politics. Victims鈥� families who have spoken publicly say they will spend the day quietly, visiting their loved one鈥檚 grave or participating in low-key events like a community walk.
鈥淲e are going to simply reflect and remember,鈥� said Tony Montalto, president of the victims鈥� families鈥� organization, Stand With Parkland. 鈥淭hat is the best thing.鈥� Montalto鈥檚 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting.
At Stoneman Douglas, students will mark the tragedy by working on service projects. They also can receive mental health counselling and visit therapy dogs. Volunteers will provide massages and manicures.
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Mickey Pope, the district鈥檚 chief of student-support services, said the staff worked with mental health counsellors, community groups, the victims鈥� families and others for four months to devise a plan they believe will honour those killed and allow students and staff to mourn.
Still, many Stoneman Douglas students are skipping school. For some it鈥檚 too emotional; others don鈥檛 want to be in the spotlight.
Alexis Grogan, a junior, said she鈥檒l spend the day picking up beach trash, dedicating her work to those who died.
鈥淚 survived something and I don鈥檛 want to waste what I call a second chance at life because those who have passed don鈥檛 get that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to make a difference for them.鈥�
In Coral Springs, San Francisco-area artist David Best will open 鈥淭he Temple of Time,鈥� which at 1,600 square feet (150 square meters) represents the indefinite period it will take for the community to come to grips with the slayings. It鈥檚 an Asian design with a spire roof that has intricate designs cut into it.
Best rejected naming it 鈥淭he Temple of Healing鈥� because he said that is impossible for the victims and their families. Since 2000, he has built such temples worldwide, including in Northern Ireland for those killed in political strife and in Nepal for the 2015 earthquake victims. Like those structures, the Stoneman Douglas temple will be burned along with whatever mementos, writings and art that mourners leave behind. That ceremony will happen in May.
Most construction materials and other expenses are being paid by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg鈥檚 public arts foundation, but neither Best nor his workers are paid.
鈥淲hen the smoke goes up and the flames go up, it will have a great meaning,鈥� said volunteer Tony Bianco, an Army veteran and artist from Coral Gables,
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Associated Press Writers Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale and Lisa Marie Pane in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.
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Terry Spencer, The Associated Press
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