For the first time, Marjory Stoneman Douglas teachers who wanted to, returned to school Friday.
FULL COVERAGE: Parkland school shooting
It was their fist day back to work since the shooting.
“Very surreal. Very somber,” said teacher Darren Levine. He teaches English and Holocaust Studies at the high school. "We’re there for each other as a staff.”
He said despite the emotions and the difficult memories, he was eager to get back to school to support his fellow teachers.
“There was definitely a lot of support going on among the staff. A lot mixed emotions and it still doesn't feel real. This whole thing can’t be real and so it’s never going to feel real to us."
Levine expects next Wednesday when his students come back for the first time to be just as difficult.
The teachers are already preparing and searching for the words to say.
“In all honesty, how do you prepare for something like this? I think that our experience with these kids is the only thing that can prepare us,” said Levine. “We have to dig deep down into our teacher souls and we are going to be there for them.”
Levine said he does not believe arming teachers, like President Trump suggested, will make students any safer.
“It just doesn't make any sense. We talk about arming teachers with the tools they need to effectively teach these students and we have not been armed with that stuff. A lot of time, we have to create that for ourselves. So to throw out this notion that they’re going to start arming teachers is a little asinine to be honest with you,” said Levine.
While we did this interview before Governor Rick Scott had unveiled his school safety plan, Levine said it’s not enough to just raise the minimum age to buy a guy.
