ORLANDO, Fla. — As students head back to school, one Central Florida father is on a mission — turning his personal fear into a powerful lesson.
He is traveling school to school, hoping to stop violence before it starts. It all began with one terrifying phone call that took place March 13, 2019.
“All of a sudden, my phone rang, and it said, ‘Lake Mary High School.’ There has been a school shooting, there is an active shooter on campus, the school is on lock down. I urgently rushed to the school because my son was there on campus,” Rico Sharp said.
On that day, a 17-year-old student fired a gun on campus, taking their own life. Sharp’s son, Tyrek, and other students were not hurt. But the fear stayed with Rico ever since.
“This became so personal to me that it really affected me emotionally,” he said.
So, he went to work and created a three-part curriculum. He calls it Breaking the Silence, Stopping Gun Violence. It is designed for students, teachers and parents.
“In this curriculum, I train the students how to understand their part that they must play in their safety and that is by creating one voice,” Sharp said.
His message: Prevention starts with conversation, and every voice matters. Sharp’s goal is to take this curriculum across the country. But for now, he’s starting right here in Central Florida.
“Our kids need to live, they need to have a future. They need to go on with their life and know that I got an education from school and not a death certificate,” Sharp said.
A father’s fear, turned into purpose, and a curriculum built not just to teach, but to protect. Sharp is offering the curriculum free to any school willing to take a look and see what it has to offer. You can find more about his work here.