Forever 14 | Max Schachter on fighting for safer schools since Parkland shooting.
Unspeakable: A True Crime Podcast By Kelly Jennings
Jim Chapman
4.8 • 614 Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2023
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Max Schachter is a national school safety advocate. His son Alex is one of the 17 victims murdered in the Parkland school shooting on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Max is the founder and executive director of Safe Schools for Alex 501(c)(3). Their mission is to provide most current school safety best practices and resources to students, parents, school districts and law enforcement so that all children can learn in a safe environment.
Since the heartbreaking day that changed Max’s life forever, he has been advocating for policy change at the highest levels of the United States government.
He has worked alongside members of congress, leaders of all major federal agencies, and Presidents of the United States to make schools safer. Max has testified as a subject matter expert before the United States House and Senate and multiple state legislatures.
In August 2018 he advocated for the creation of a federal agency to house national school safety best practices. In June 2019, Max’s vision became a reality when President Trump created the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse at SchoolSafety.gov.
In July 2022 Max attended the White House ceremony where President Biden announced the most significant gun safety legislation in 27 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which made SchoolSafety.gov permanent and law. Max has also worked to improve the safety and security of Florida’s 2.4 million students through his appointment to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School Public Safety Commission.
The MSD commission, established by former Governor Rick Scott, was tasked with leading the statewide investigation into the Parkland school shooting and developing recommendations to protect Florida’s children.
Max has advised the Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Threat Assessment Center, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on threat assessment policies and procedures.
He is a member of the National Sheriffs’ Association School Safety and Security Committee and the International Association of Chiefs of Police Mass Violence Peer-to-Peer Advisory Team. In June 2019, Max was awarded the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General Citizen Volunteer Service Award by Attorney General William Barr. Max has been interviewed by many local and national media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Dr. Phil.
He has given keynote presentations to many school districts, law enforcement organizations, and local, state, and federal agencies detailing the lessons learned and best practices developed in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting along with his journey from anguish to advocacy.
#MaxSchachter #Unspeakablepodcast #KellyJennings #Truecrime #Podcast
Learn more about safe schools for Alex here!
https://www.safeschoolsforalex.org/our-team/
Learn more about Max Schachter here:
https://www.maxschachter.com/
Check out my coverage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shootings here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unspeakable-a-true-crime-podcast-by-kelly-jennings/id1651928508?i=1000586375065
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Unspeakable, a true crime podcast where I tell stories of real crimes with real victims, |
| 0:11.7 | whose cases are so shocking that many are left wondering, how is this even real? |
| 0:30.9 | I use my experiences in law enforcement, corrections, and combined with my years as a criminal justice educator, dig deep into complex cases of evil acts. |
| 0:34.4 | Some so evil, many feel they are unspeakable. |
| 0:53.6 | Warning, unspeakable is intended for mature audiences. |
| 0:56.0 | If you are easily offended, then I'm not your girl. Listening discretion is advised. Hey y'all, Kelly Jennings here. I'm back with a really, |
| 1:01.1 | really special episode that's close to my heart. I'm so glad that you're listening into Unspeakable, |
| 1:06.0 | and I think you're really going to like what I have in store for you today. I actually have a |
| 1:09.9 | special guest for you. |
| 1:11.1 | And if you remember a few episodes ago, I had discussed a father that gave his impact statement |
| 1:19.4 | and his final statements in regards to the Parkland shooting and that his son was one of the |
| 1:24.5 | unfortunate victims of that shooting and how much he touched my soul. Well, guess what? |
| 1:29.8 | I reached out to that father. His name is Mr. Max Schachter, and I am honored that I have him on |
| 1:37.0 | the show today. So, hello, Mr. Max. How are you? |
| 1:40.6 | I'm doing okay, Kelly. Thanks for having you. No problem. And I want to start out by telling our listeners |
| 1:45.7 | that you are the founder and executive director of safe schools for Alex, and he's a huge advocate |
| 1:51.4 | for school safety. He is a corporate and governmental advisor and inspirational and |
| 1:58.1 | entrepreneurial speaker from anguish to advocacy. Is there anything you would add to that? |
| 2:03.0 | No, no. I just got back from Wisconsin and Phoenix and I was just in Ohio yesterday where I speak to |
| 2:14.0 | law enforcement organizations, school districts, basically just trying to educate everyone |
| 2:20.6 | about the lessons that we learn from Parkland so that this never happens again. |
| 2:26.0 | Absolutely. |
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