WASHINGTON 鈥斅燦othing is the same at Great Mills High School since March 20.
That鈥檚 when a 17-year-old student turned up at the school in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, and killed 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey, then turned the gun on himself and took his own life.
That one event changed the way 17-year-old Jaxon O鈥橫ara, a rising senior at Great Mills High, looks at everything 鈥� including summer vacation.
鈥淭he good thing about summer is, you know, not as many kids are in school. So there aren鈥檛 as many school shootings,鈥� O’Mara said.
When her family mentions where they鈥檙e from, O’Mara said people tend to freeze up and it gets awkward. But that doesn鈥檛 happen when she talks to kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a former student opened fire and killed 17 in February.
“One of the main things that鈥檚 been helping us work through what happened at our school is being able to talk to other kids that it happened to,鈥� said O鈥橫ara.
鈥淏eing able to talk to somebody who isn鈥檛 afraid to talk about it and understands what we鈥檙e going through 鈥� and doesn鈥檛 treat it like a taboo 鈥� is really good.鈥�
Students at the two schools bonded through social media and at events like the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. Now, O鈥橫ara鈥檚 started to help other students afford a trip she鈥檚 planned to take to Parkland, Florida, in August.
鈥淥ur goal is to get as many students as we can from Great Mills High School to be able to fly down to Parkland, Florida, and meet with some of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas,鈥� O鈥橫ara said.
The idea is to take the bonding they鈥檝e experienced through social media and turn that into an in-person meetup. “We鈥檇 really like to have that healing process in person,鈥� O’Mara said.
The original goal was $1,000. When that goal was met, O鈥橫ara boosted it to $2,000. 鈥淭he more money we get, the more students we can take,鈥� she said.
