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Marjory Stoneman Douglas memorial events

February 12
Day of Service and Love 

Only students and staff will be allowed on the grounds. It will be very similar to years past. This year’s seniors were freshmen when the shooting occurred on Valentine’s Day, 2018. There will be community service and campus projects, including campus beautification of Marjory’s Garden at the back of the school. There will also be a first responder’s breakfast.

February 14
Spreading The Love

10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Eagles’ Haven Wellness Center, 5655 Coral Ridge Dr.,Coral Springs.

Events will be outside in the parking lot, socially distanced. Masks are mandatory. Events will be centered on healing and “spreading the love” within the community. There will be arts and crafts, such as rock painting for the MSD Rock Garden, along with therapeutic activities like meditation and yoga. The families and community will have a space for grieving and remembering, with a candle lighting ceremony and benches. All clinicians will be present for individual counseling should the need arise. At the end of the day there will be a healing circle before transitioning to Pine Trails Park where the City of Parkland’s events will take place.

Pine Trails Park, 10555 Trails End, Parkland

The City of Parkland’s planned events will begin at 5:30 p.m. by the amphitheater. Social distancing and masks will be required. In lieu of an in-person service project as part of the Community Commemoration event, the City has collaborated with Food for the Poor on a fundraiser to build a home in an impoverished area of Honduras.

Therapists and the very popular therapy dogs from Canine Assisted Therapy will be available. 17 Memory Boards will be set up for people to write messages, with volunteers standing by to sanitize the permanent markers.

Spiritual Leaders will be taking the stage at 6 p.m., followed by a video presentation that focuses on the memory of the 17 people lost in the tragedy.

Virtual events
Run 4 Beigel – 5k Run/Walk
February 6 – February 14, 2021
https://runsignup.com/Race/FL/Parkland/Run4Beigel

NSU – 3 Years Later #MSDStrong
12 p.m., February 12
https://www.nova.edu/alumni/events/index.html

Make Our Schools Safe – #LIVEFORALYSSA Benefit
7 to 8:30 p.m. February 11
https://makeourschoolssafe.org/2nd-annual-live-for-alyssa-benefit/

Chris Hixon Memorial 5k Run/Walk
February 20, 2021
https://runsignup.com/Race/FL/Hollywood/ChrisHixonMemorialRun

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Commissioner Michael Udine (3rd District, Broward County)

Broward County is on the move. Investing in the future, creating sustainable job growth, and working with leading stakeholders to create a strong economy will provide opportunity for all. In the past two months, several new companies have announced they will be moving their headquarters here to Broward County. I am excited to work in partnership with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance to attract even more this year and will work tirelessly through all platforms to make sure everyone knows that Broward County is the place to be!

As Vice-Mayor of Broward County one of my top priorities is to encourage investment in the South Florida region by attracting top level tech and financial companies to call our community home. In collaboration with the Mayors of the City of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, I have been meeting with local officials to see how we can work together to bring investment, and good quality jobs, to our community. Creating a tech corridor with a solid foundation, led by our hometown universities like FAU and NSU, will create strong job growth for years to come.

In January I made a site visit to Port Everglades to see firsthand the dock expansion, and the brand-new gantry cranes that will service the supersized Panamax cargo vessels once the projects are complete. These new cranes, which I saw up close and in person (not for those afraid of heights), will increase our port’s economic potential. In addition, the port is working with Florida Department of Environmental Protection to protect and expand the mangrove habitats on site. This will help keep our water and wildlife healthy for future generations. I was honored to meet several District 3 residents who operate these cranes on a daily basis and learn everything that goes into doing their job for Broward County.

Over the past two months, the brand-new Motorola public safety radio system has come online in Broward County. This replacement was necessary to protect Broward County residents in the event of an emergency. From new towers, to new radios, and interoperability with neighboring counties like Palm Beach, we are focused on providing the fastest service when every second counts. I would like to thank the whole team of Broward County Emergency Management, and all stakeholders, for their steadfast support in getting this done.

It is difficult to find the words when I reflect on the three years that have gone by since the tragedy at MSD on February 14th. Our community has been forever changed by that fateful day. We miss those we have lost, continue to heal with those who are hurting, and fight for changes that will make schools safer and prioritize mental health. To all members of our community: the anniversary of this day will never get easier, but we will get through it together.

My staff and I have made staying connected with the residents of District 3 a top priority. We have been available by phone, answering questions by email, and getting out the most up-to-date and accurate information available. I can be reached as always at MUdine@ Broward.org or at my office at (954) 357-7003.

Follow me on social media @CommissionerMichaelUdine on Facebook and @MichaelUdine on Twitter or Instagram to receive important updates and see what is happening in our community. I look forward to connecting with you.

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MSD victim’s dad counseled by President-elect Biden

Two dates are at the center of Fred Guttenberg’s recently released Find the Helpers — Sept. 11, 2001 and Feb. 14, 2018.

The small but affecting book recounts the lives and heart-rending deaths of Guttenberg’s brother, Michael, a first-responder at Ground Zero who as a result later died of pancreatic cancer, and his daughter, Jaime, a 14-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was among the 17 slain in the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla.

But for Guttenberg, another date promises hope: Jan. 20, 2021 — Inauguration Day, when Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.

Biden’s election and the transition away from four years of the presidency of Donald Trump promise more than wishful thinking for Guttenberg. The 54 year-old Broward man has spoken often with Biden, who is notable among the “helpers” at the heart of Guttenberg’s book.

“For me, the Vice President has been a helper,” Guttenberg writes in the book, released in September by Mango Publishing. “He has given me the advice that I needed to go forward from the worst moment in my life, often speaking to me about mission and purpose. That advice has formed my life and my advocacy since.”

In the aftermath of the MSD shooting, Guttenberg and his wife, Jennifer, started the nonprofit Orange Ribbons for Jaime to advocate for gun safety. Guttenberg has been ubiquitous and vocal in his activism.

He has testified in U.S. Senate hearings and been invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention this past summer as well as speaking his piece at nationally televised town halls, marches and vigils, occasionally clashing publicly with Washington political figures, like Florida’s Republican senator Marco Rubio, who back de- regulating gun ownership.

Invited to attend Trump’s last State of the Union address this past February, Guttenberg was escorted out of the House chamber after standing shouting at the president, who had taken time to express his support for continued liberalized Second Amendment rights.

Biden “has an understanding of what Americans go through,” Guttenberg said in a recent interview.

Biden’s plan to address gun violence is detailed and, as Guttenberg notes, backed by a majority of Americans. Among the proposals are repealing a law that protects gun manufacturers from legal liability, banning the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines paired with nationwide buy-backs, closing loopholes in background checks before gun purchases, and allowing states to implement “red flag” laws.

Biden also wants to enact legislation to support survivors of gun violence and their communities.

“He plans to treat gun violence like the public health emergency it is,” Guttenberg said. “His commitment is real.”

Guttenberg says in Find the Helpers that his life’s goal is “to break the gun lobby,” and to help elect lawmakers who support gun safety and defeat those who don’t. How his aims will dovetail with Biden’s plans, Guttenberg doesn’t yet know, but his voice is hopeful and resounding with the inspiration that suffuses his book.

“I can’t say what my role will be, but I intend to have a role,” he said.

Find the Helpers: What 9/11 and Parkland Taught Me About Recovery, Purpose, and Hope

by Fred Guttenberg

Forward by Bradley Whitford

Mango Publishing, Sept. 22, 2020

Hardcover, 198 pages (18,000 copies currently in print)

Available at Amazon (hardcover and Kindle), Target.com, Barnes & Noble
and Indiebound.org.

List price: $19.95

Notable reviews by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Alyssa Milano, Debra Messing, former Congressman David Jolly, and Glenn Kirschner, legal analyst and former U.S. Army prosecutor.

Find the Helpers was named among the Best Political Books of 2020 by MarieClaire.com and has been noted in newspapers across the country, including the Virginian-Pilot, Twin Cities Pioneer-Press and Columbus Dispatch, in addition to the South Florida Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

‘Jaime’s Law’ to be re-introduced to Florida legislature

Florida Phoenix

Legislation has been filed for next year’s session of the Florida Legislature that would close a loophole that can allow people barred from owning firearms because of criminal histories to nevertheless purchase ammunition without a background check.

The proposal (HB 25) is similar to a bill that failed during last year’s session. It’s called “Jaime’s Law,” after Jaime Guttenberg, aged 14, one of the 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

“As a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, nothing is more important to me than preventing another tragedy like what our community experienced from ever happening again,” bill sponsor Dan Daley, a Democrat from Coral Springs, said in written statement.

“Jaime’s Law is a huge step in the right direction towards ensuring that weapons and ammunition stay out of dangerous hands. It’s also common sense and does not restrict the rights of legal gun owners,” he said.

Bartenders are required to card people who order beers, he noted. “Why isn’t a vendor required by law to ensure that someone seeking to purchase ammunition is legally allowed to do so?”

Daley filed similar legislation last year, as did Sen. Lauren Book, also a Broward Democrat, but it failed.

Existing law requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks on buyers and to refuse purchasers who have felony convictions, histories of domestic violence, or mental illness. But the law doesn’t apply to ammo sales.

Daley’s bill would require that purchase records for law-abiding people remain confidential. It cites an existing ban on any gun registration lists. The Legislature when passing that ban declared such a list “an instrument that can be used as a means to profile innocent citizens and to harass and abuse American citizens based solely on their choice to own firearms and exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed under the United States Constitution.”

Following the Parkland shootings, the 2018 Legislature voted to let
some school personnel carry guns on campus and the next year to allow teachers to carry under some circumstances.

Gun reform advocate Fred Guttenberg, Jaime’s father, has endorsed the proposal.

“With approximately 400 million weapons already on the streets, we must make it harder for those who intend to kill to do so,” he said.

“Prohibited purchasers of weapons are also prohibited from buying ammunition, but there is no mechanism in place to keep that ammunition out of their hands. We must close this ammunition loophole and this bill is a step in the right direction to do it. Jaime’s Law will help save lives immediately.”

Visit www.floridaphoenix.com for more news on state politics.

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DECA perseveres at MSD despite COVID

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s DECA program is the fourth largest chapter in the world. With CDC safety guidelines and virtual learning set in stone for the remainder of this year, DECA has not allowed the circumstances to limit its outreach to students.

Originally, DECA stood for “Distributive Education Clubs of America,” but it is now known only as DECA, a not-for-profit student organization. Since the club is co-curricular, it only includes students enrolled in the Academy of Finance and/or the Hospitality & Tourism programs offered at MSD.

“In the spring when I was appointed to be the president of DECA, I thought I would be sitting back in the classroom,” co-President Lexie Sealy said. “I feel like I am missing out on engaging with our members. I was really looking forward to meeting the freshmen and new members face to face.” MSD’s DECA is around 700 members strong and as a result, it has become a challenge to connect the members when meetings and socials are done through a computer screen with no real interaction.  With students learning through computers and staring at screens for hours at a time, it has become hard to engage and involve members.

“It is definitely a challenge for our chapter to connect with one another on virtual platforms, especially with all the technical difficulties that come with virtual events,” co-VP of School Activities Raegan DiRenzo said. “Despite this, I feel we’ve made the best of this situation and have been able to participate in engaging officer bonding events and socials.”

As an incentive for more participation, the club introduced a Girls Who Start chapter for students interested in hearing from female entrepreneurs, along with DECA in the Middle, a program where students from Westglades Middle School could learn about business-related concepts.

“Online learning has really made it hard for us to connect with the middle school kids,” VP of Middle School Relations Ziya Kassam said. “Usually we would be able to talk to the members one on one and be there in person whenever they needed, but this year it’s hard for us to communicate efficiently.”

Typically, DECA students compete at state competition and at the International Career Development Conference, where thousands of DECA students come together to compete and develop knowledge and skills for college and careers. Since competitions will no longer be conducted the same way as years prior, resources such as “Manual Monday” and “Testing Tuesday” are available to students who would like to focus more on preparation.

“It’s important to be prepared for competition,” sophomore LJ Russinoff said.

“Our chapter offers [resources] to ensure that our members are as prepare as possible for their events.”

As a result of eLearning, the DECA officer team and advisors have found ways to collaborate and find solutions for more effective networking, learning, and bonding. Just like other clubs and extracurriculars, establishing connections has become a struggle. The DECA program at MSD has learned to combat this issue with strong teamwork and innovative alternatives.

PERSPECTIVES:
Sharon Cutler – Academy of Finance teacher and DECA advisor

“From a teacher perspective, I had to rethink my lessons and how I’m going to teach with the understanding that students are looking at a computer screen. I am used to having project based learning so having my students still work in projects and with other people is very important to me. I try to look at what I can do instead of what I can’t.”

Lexie Sealy – DECA Co-President 

“The biggest challenge is keeping members engaged through a computer screen. We have had to take all the events we do every year and figure out a way to make them virtual and engaging for members. COVID-19 has made this position much more difficult than anticipated, but it is so rewarding to hear positive feedback from the student body.”

 Jacob Foster – DECA senior who has gone to state/ICDC competition

“I have competed in state and district competitions every year, and I attended ICDC my sophomore year. Virtual competition is not ideal, but it is understandable since DECA wants to keep everyone safe. My goal this year is to work hard to win at ICDC since this will be my last chance. We have been looking forward to this competition in California since our freshman year, and everyone is hopeful that things will be better in May or April so that we will be able to travel and compete.”

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