Winder, Georgia (CNN) — Isaiah Hooks was having a great start to his sophomore year at Apalachee High School: He was in the band, about to participate in a new leadership program and most importantly, focusing on just being happy.
“I was mostly just trying to make the most of every day, even when I felt down. I was trying to just be happy about every day,” the 15-year-old student told CNN on Saturday.
Then, on September 4 – just weeks into the academic year – Apalachee became the site of a mass shooting that left two students and two teachers dead – the deadliest US school shooting since March 2023 and the 49th this year. The Winder shooting has fractured the lives of students like Isaiah, their parents and the Georgia community…