Instagram Post Encouraging Support for School Shooting Survivors Spreads into San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX-- It's been over a week since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School claimed the lives of 17 people.

Since then, the shooting has stayed in the spotlight prompting discussions about stricter gun laws and how to protect students.

While most people are looking at the possible reform that will come of the tragedy, an Instagram post from Stoneman Douglas Social Science teacher Diane Wolk-Rogers has swept across the nation and beyond.

"It is with a heavy heart and clouded eyes I am reaching out to this community of wonderful teachers to help my students heal from the horrific event they have experienced," Wolk-Rogers said. "Our kids are amazing and they want to get back to school and continue learning. But first they need time to just be together and begin the process of healing."

Wolk-Rogers would go on to ask for handwritten letters of encouragement to be sent to the devastated school in order for the students to understand the support they have.

San Angelo resident Heidi Brooks, who has been involved in the community for over 30 years, saw the post and immediately knew she had to share it.

"[The shooting] is one of those things that makes me sick," Brooks said over the phone. "I'm willing to do anything to help." 

Brooks said she originally saw the post from her friend's daughter.

"I told my kids to write a letter before they do anything else," Brooks said. "Then I told them to pass it on.

"I also passed it on to a few of my friends who have over 250,000 followers to see what they could do. One of them couldn't do anything because his business was centered around his Instagram, but he still passed it along to some of his friends."

Brooks went on to say, "I'm not a psychologist or a counselor or anything like that," but that she knew, in this day and age of social media and technology, a handwritten letter would still carry the same value as it did before social media "made us more distant."

"I could have written a letter to my congressman, the Governor or the President," Brooks said. "But everyone is doing that. I want to do something that helps these kids heals and to be able to pick up a letter and see the support they have will do just that."