Editor’s Note: Since the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, which killed 14 students and 3 adults, students across the nation are not only calling for action but also honoring those who died. At Wahlert, we are honoring the victims by learning a little about them during morning prayer. To give you a better idea of who these students were, we are also writing a short article to honor the victims.

Alex Schachter, aged 14, was killed in the Parkland shooting on Feb. 14. He was a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Alex is survived by his dad, Max Schachter, his step-mom, Caryn, his older brother, Ryan, and his step-sisters, Morgan and Avery. He is preceded in death by his mother, Debra Schachter.

“(On) Sunday I buried Alex in the same cemetery as his mother Debbie, who passed away 10 years ago,” stated Max Schachter in his eulogy for his son. “Today, I moved her so she can be next to Alex and take care of him. I can’t ever cuddle with him or hug him and tell him I love him again, but now Debbie will do that for me.”

Alex was a trombone player in his high school’s marching band and an avid basketball fan. The Miami Heat basketball team honored Schachter and the fellow victims of the school shooting at a game against the Washington Wizards.

Josh Richardson, a star player on the Miami Wizards, said, “It’s a tragedy what happened, and I wanted to let the dad know we’re thinking about him. And that his son hasn’t been forgotten.”

Along with music and sports, Alex was a poet. Two weeks prior to his death, Alex wrote a free verse poem on rollercoasters.

“He decided to write about roller coasters because Alex loved roller coasters,” Max Schachter stated. “He wasn’t writing about his life and had no idea his poem would become his future.”

To read the full poem, visit https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/us/alex-schachter-poem-florida-shooting-victim-trnd/index.html

Quotes found from CNN, Sun Sentinel, and The Washington Post.