BY BOB JOHNSON
The new school year was only a few days old when another senseless shooting brought chills to parents everywhere — but especially those with children attending Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
One such parent is Jillian Edwards, the sales center manager for Stars and Strikes, the bowling entertainment center business owned by Chris Albano and Jack Canouse, which has 17 venues in five states. Edwards’ 16-year-old son, Josh, is a sophomore at the school, and she remembers the events of Sept. 4 with a level of clarity that may never fade with time.
“I got a text from my sister who had heard about something going on at a different school and wanted to make sure Josh didn’t go there,” Edwards says. “When I was answering that text, I got another one from an unknown number. It was my son, who had borrowed a phone from a friend, telling me that there had been a shooting at his school but that he was okay.”
Josh had been in a classroom one hall away and could hear the shots being fired. Unlike previous generations, he had grown up hearing about school shootings, and it was always in the back of his mind that it could be something he might have to face one day. So, he knew he needed to reach out as quickly as possible.
Edwards recalls tears filling her eyes for just a moment, but then composing herself.
“It was just crazy,” she says. “You feel totally helpless, but at the same time you’re relieved that your kid is okay. Then you hear that parents are rushing to the school, but my son told me there was no reason to come — that he was okay and it was going to take a while for everything to be handled.”
“A while” turned out to be three and a half hours as police rigorously processed the students and allowed them to leave the school grounds one by one.
“Josh had a sunburn, but that was okay,” Edwards says.
Other students and other parents weren’t so fortunate. On that horrific morning, a 14-year-old boy used an AR-15 style rifle to kill two students and two teachers and wound nine others (eight students and one teacher) before surrendering.
In the wake of the shooting, the school was shut down as investigators combed the scene for evidence. That left students with nothing to do except wait… until the Stars and Strikes venue in neighboring Dacula swung into action and opened its doors early for two days, offering free bowling and free arcade play to Apalachee High School enrollees.
“Our staff had made and delivered some food to the counselors who were helping the students, but we wanted to do more,” Edwards says. “The kids had nothing to do and nowhere to be.”
That’s when it was decided to open two hours early on two consecutive days and invite Apalachee High School students to come in for free bowling and free arcade game play. Staff members volunteered their time to make it happen.
“I had brought my son and his friends on Monday (five days after the shooting) and they’d gotten the word out so about a hundred kids came by,” Edwards says. “That day, we asked all of those kids to share what we were doing with their friends, and the next day we had 300 show up. The power of social media, right?”
Many hadn’t seen each other since the day of the shooting. There were lots of hugs. And tears. Several students said they hadn’t smiled since that fateful morning. Bowling and playing games and being with friends was their first step toward a return to some kind of normalcy.
It would take a while for full normalcy to be restored. The school did not reopen until Sept. 23, and the plan called for a half-day schedule until the fall break this week.
Meanwhile, Edwards says she has been “blown away by the community — the love and the caring.”
She also wants to set the record straight about the kids who attend Apalachee High School and the community in which she and her husband have chosen to live.
“There were reports that the shooter had been bullied, but he hadn’t even attended the school for very long,” Edwards says. “These are amazing kids. They’re wonderful kids. And the love and caring here totally outweighs the hate.”
When the idea came to open the bowling center early, she says, “We basically told Chris and Jack what we were going to do. We knew they’d be okay with it and, of course, they were.
“That’s why I’m proud to work for this company,” Edwards adds. “Giving back has always been one of our core values.”
Rarely has that willingness to give been needed more.
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