Protecting students and teachers at school
Mission
Make Our Schools Safe’s mission is to empower students and staff to help create and maintain a culture of safety and vigilance in a secure school environment.
Make Our Schools Safe was founded by Lori and Ilan Alhadeff, who lost their beautiful 14-year old daughter, Alyssa, to the brutal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Valentine’s Day 2018. Alyssa was bright, energetic, happy, athletic – a pure ray of sunshine who lit up every room with her warm smile. She was an honor student, a good friend who was known to stay up later than she should have in order to support others, a winning debater, and a star soccer player, the captain of her traveling team.
In their grief, Lori and Ilan Alhadeff founded Make Schools Safe, Inc. so that no other parent would have to endure the pain they live with.
Alyssa and the 16 other victims of this atrocity are the impetus for change. It is their spirits that give Make Schools Safe the strength to find ways to protect schools everywhere. With their loss, Lori and Ilan feel they have been called to action. The Alhadeffs are now the voice of Alyssa, leading this mission.
This is not just a campaign in the name of Alyssa Alhadeff. It honors the lives of the victims of Parkland: Martin Duque Anguiano (14), Nicholas Dworet (17), Jaime Guttenberg (14), Luke Hoyer (15), Cara Loughren (14), Gina Montalto (14), Joaquin Oliver (17), Alaina Petty (14), Meadow Pollack (18), Helena Ramsay (17), Alex Schachter (14), Carmen Schentrup (16), and Peter Wang (15), and faculty members Scott Beigel (35), Aaron Feis (37), and Chris Hixon (49).
Why It Matters
This foundation collaborates with high-level security advisors to offer survival information for protection in emergencies. It focuses on bringing these skills to schools, so teachers feel confident protecting their students and themselves. Code-red training must be as intrinsic a part of schooling as fire drills.
Alyssa’s Law is critical legislation addressing the issue of law enforcement response time when a life-threatening emergency occurs because time equals life. The law calls for the installation of silent panic alarms that are directly linked to law enforcement, so in case of any emergency they will get on the scene as quickly as possible, take down a threat and triage any victims. So far, Alyssa’s Law has passed in New Jersey and Florida.
LEWIS is proud to support Make Our Schools Safe through its Causes program.
I live in the small city and community of Parkland, FL. I’ve seen the impact this has had on our community, and having a daughter of my own, I cannot imagine sending a child to school where they don’t feel safe or have to fear for their life. 17 people, mostly students, lost their lives that day and this charity is helping make a difference.
– Jacklyn Kellick, Account Manager