In this impactful 3-hour session, Max Schachter will take attendees on his journey from pain to purpose, sharing the progress made in school safety across Florida in the seven years since the Parkland tragedy and the heartbreaking loss of his son, Alex. Following Part 1, attendees will have the opportunity to pick up a box lunch and return to their seats for Part 2. Additional details are provided below.

Part 1: This presentation by national school safety advocate Max Schachter brings you along his journey from pain into purpose after his 14 year old son Alex was murdered during the Parkland school shooting. Since the heartbreaking day that changed Max’s life forever, he has been fighting for safer schools at the highest levels of the United States government. He speaks not only from the perspective of a school shooting victim’s father; he is also a commissioner on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission which was tasked with investigating the tragedy and making recommendations to improve the safety of Florida’s 4,000 schools. Max’s pain has fueled his belief that school safety must be prioritized over education because we can’t teach dead kids. His most impactful work to date has been bringing hundreds of school and law enforcement officials through the site of the Parkland School Shooting before it was demolished. Max could not save Alex but he believes schools are safer every time he presents the lessons learned from Parkland.

Part 2: Florida School Safety - 7 Years of Progress After the Parkland School Shooting

Florida leads the nation in school safety. Max Schachter outlines the state’s progress since Parkland, detailing improvements and seven key safety bills passed to prevent another tragedy.