Who is Ivy Schamis? Former Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas teacher testifies on third day of Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial

On February 14, 2018, a school shooting carried out by Nikolas Cruz changed the lives of everyone present at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on that fateful day. Four years later, the former MSD student, who shot and killed 14 students, a teacher, a coach, and an athletic director, now faces the penalty phase of his trial.

The trial, which will determine whether Nikolas Cruz receives the death penalty or a life imprisonment sentence without parole, began on Monday. Over three days, the prosecution put forth its opening statement, and witnesses were brought in to recount that horrifying day.

On the third day of the trial at Broward County Courthouse, Ivy Schamis, a former social studies teacher at the Parkland high school, took to the witness stand to recount her experience of the tragedy that took the lives of two of her students. In an emotionally charged testimony, Schamis recounted how, in classroom 1214, she hid under furniture with her students while Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting spree in building 1200.

In her testimony, the former teacher, while talking about the initial happiness of her students, said:

"It started out great, because it was Valentine’s Day. It was a happy day; kids were bringing in candy and flowers...We were going to talk about the Jesse Owens story...I asked the students if they knew who Adi Dassler was...Nicholas Dworet in my class raised his hand and he got excited and said 'I know who Adi Dassler is!' He is the German shoemaker...who started the Adidas Company."

Former school athlete Nicholas Dworet and his classmate Helena Ramsay did not survive the shooting.

The happy moment in class 1214 was immediately marred by gunfire ringing through the school hallway. While describing the massacre, she continued:

"In my mind it was unmistakable that, that was gunshots...The students flew out of their seats trying to find cover in a very small room, that had a wall full of windows. There was a front door with a large window...that was not bulletproof...They tried to find cover wherever they could...We had never had a drill or anything to tell us what to do or where to go."

The horror stayed with her even after she left Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2020.

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Former teacher calls her students "incredibly brave" at Nikolas Cruz's trial

When lead prosecutor Michael Satz asked to identify her students at Nikolas Cruz's penalty trial, the former Parkland teacher broke down as she identified victim Helena Ramsay as "my girl Helena" and called Nicholas Dworet a "handsome boy" while smiling through her tears.

Since the fateful Valentine's day in 2018, which killed Ramsay and Dworet along with 15 others, Ivy Schamis has spoken about her experience as a survivor time and again. In an interview with Stephen Smith for the USC Shoah Foundation, she stressed the importance of reaching out to other survivors of gun violence. Citing the example of a Pittsburgh teacher who lost her father in a synagogue shooting, Schamis said:

"I guess you see how other people are coping, and you feel like you're the only one but now you see what's happening in other places."

Over the past three days, in a show of astounding bravery, several students and teachers have stood at the witness stand to testify against Nikolas Cruz. The trial is expected to continue on Thursday.