On September 10, 2025, around 2 p.m., the United States slowed with the news of Charlie Kirk’s shooting, and two hours later, his death. Inside Fort Worth Country Day, the community was shaken. Reactions, student views, teachers’ discussions. Everything shifted from a normal happy day to a tragic one. On September 11, the very next day, students were addressed by Upper School Head Abby Abbott over the tribulations of the past 24 hours.
Abbott first talked about what this may mean for FWCD and the unity of its student body relating to the effects of the incident.
“Democracy depends on a lot of things, but democracy depends on people’s willingness to build bridges,” Abbott said. “Democracy depends on listening generously. Democracy depends on trust…we need students that can argue passionately and still respect one another. That’s what makes democracy work.”
Charlie Kirk was a Republican advocate who went around spreading his message throughout the United States. Kirk would hold debates and discussions primarily on college campuses, as this was his target audience. Kirk was holding a rally at Utah Valley University when the shooting occurred.
Abbott admitted to anxiety and struggle over what to write and how to best deliver this message to the US students.
“I was nervous the night before I gave that speech because I was so nervous about it and I didn’t know exactly the right words to say,” Abbott said. “We’re teaching you how to think critically, how to get your own opinion across in a way that is respectful, in a way that keeps us together in community, even if your opinion differs from the rest.”
Abbott also spoke about the primary reason to address this situation above other violence.
“The Charlie Kirk murder was not the only thing that was going on that day,” Abbott said. “There was the Evergreen shooting in Colorado, and the anniversary of 9/11, so for sure, it was like this crescendo of violence that sort of coalesced on this day… Unfortunately, there are a lot of tragedies in the world…we would be together every single day in the commons talking about all the tragedies that happen around the world.”
Abbott was also asked about positive interactions she was able to see from the student body.
“One thing that struck me here was the way students supported one another,” Abbott said, “You know, I saw a lot of comforting one another. I saw kids hugging. I saw kids sort of leaning, physically, leaning on one another… That was reassuring, even in a pretty sad time. That was reassuring.”
Abbott provided a very powerful statement when talking about how the student body should handle this situation in general and gave an explanation of its meaning.
“Disagreement isn’t bad for our community; walking away from it is,” Abbott said. “…hen we keep that disagreement to ourselves, it just festers and it boils up in ways that often come out as violence. So if we practice that in healthy ways, and practice that in ways that align with our core values, that only makes us stronger, right?”
Sara Teegarden has been teaching 10th grade government and 12th grade AP Comparative Government at FWCD for 14 years. Teegarden opened her door after a class to the news and students’ perspectives and reactions to the incident. She also had a class right after the incident.
“It was almost a good thing we didn’t talk about it for a whole class, there were so many unknowns and the quality of the conversation wouldn’t have been based on evidence,” Teegarden said. “I was also thinking about other teachers that don’t normally have to have hard conversations like this.”
Teegarden was asked about what questions she asked her class immediately after she found out.
“Why is it so important to uphold the value of living in a strong and safe society with different views?” Teegarden said, “How do you lead a country through political violence so it doesn’t keep happening? How will the country understand that none of us want this? Where did we as a country go wrong that political violence became the answer?”
Carlos Rocha is an upper school math teacher in his first year at FWCD. Rocha was in a planning period when he heard the news. Rocha tries to stay off his phone during the school day following the school’s phone policy and only heard the news when going to talk to students.
“I was sad and shocked that someone would do something like that; my gut feeling was sadness, people shouldn’t be shot for expressing their political views,” Rocha said, “I feel sad for the country because this hurts the dialogue between people and creates division…the US has been hurt in its ability to have respectful debates. It was already hard to do and had been compromised especially because of aggressive thought.”
Rocha was also asked about the reaction that he saw from the students
“One thing about teenagers is they don’t think about politics,” Rocha said. “The fact that nobody talked about it [Charlie Kirk’s opinions in particular] was not too surprising; he was a political figure.”
Teegarden was asked the same about student reactions.
“The news doesn’t show violence very often in the US. Other countries do, and it’s very different. We have less videos and more pictures and images,” Teegarden said.
Abbott was also asked about the student reaction.
“I did mostly see grief, and students [were] pretty upset. And I’m not really sure. I don’t know everybody’s political beliefs, but I think people were pretty disturbed by the violence.”
Knox Davidson ’29 is a freshman at FWCD and has been at the school since Kindergarten. Davidson was in his study period when he first heard the news of the incident from his family group chat. Davidson was shocked by the news, the videos, and all the images that surfaced.
“Everyone needs to come together and talk about it, and talk about why it’s happening and how to fix it,” Davidson said. “Everyone knew and saw the video and was informed right away. I think in some cases it is a good thing, and it’s good to be informed, but false information can sway people and cause a lot of problems.”
Davidson was also asked about the effect he thought this incident would have on the student body.
“I think everyone will come together, and realize we need to work together and [not] be divided; division causes problems,” Davidson said.
Teegarden was asked the same about the effects of the incident.
“Political violence should not be used as a tool in politics. When politically violent acts occur, everyone suffers,” Teegarden said.
