Scott Beigel

Scott Beigel passed on from this world as a hero, but to anyone who knew the Long Island native, this came as no surprise, as he was known as a man who had lived his life by the values of heroism and selflessness. A man who loved teaching his kids as much as he loved running with them, 35-yearold Beigel was born on Oct. 22, 1982. Despite having only joined the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff as a geography teacher this year, he has left a lasting legacy on his students and his cross country team, not only for his quick-wit and sarcasm, but also for his huge heart.

Beigel was born in Beauregard Memorial Hospital in DeRidder, Louisiana. Although he was born in the Pelican State, he didn’t spend long there. As the child of a military family, he quickly found himself hurried off to New York, and it was there he spent his early years. The reserved, thoughtful individual came into the world weighing 7 lbs, completely unaware of the immeasurable impact he would have on thousands of people throughout his life.

As a child, at 7 years old, Beigel attended a sleepaway camp known as Camp Starlight, and his positive experiences there led him to find a passion for teaching. His mother, Linda Schulman, realized early on that his camp experiences would shape the person he was going to become and the career he was going to pursue.

Beigel continued going back to camp summer after summer. He loved not only the adventures and the games, but also the lessons he learned there and the lessons he was able to teach others.

“There came a time that we told him that if he wanted to keep going back to camp, he would have to go into the teaching profession,” Linda Schulman said.

He was totally involved in the Camp Starlight experience. The camp, based in Starlight, Pennsylvania, is a place where campers and counselors spend the summers on a 385-acre region surrounded by mountains and lakes. The camp has been active for over 70 years and prides itself on its friendly campers, caring camp staff, quality camp program and beautiful facilities.

“Scott Beigel not only was a hero February 14, but he was a hero every summer at Camp Starlight to countless individuals. He was one of the greatest mentors I’ve ever had, and I’m so grateful for how he impacted myself and everyone around him. I will never forget you Scott. Rest easy,” camper Cody James Johnson said in a Facebook post.

After spending his early years in New York, Beigel continued his trend of traversing the country and moved down south to the Sunshine State in order to attend the University of Miami. While at school, he studied education, working towards becoming a teacher so he could continue to work to improve the lives of other people around him and prepare the next generation for the future.

It was during his time at Camp Starlight that he met his friend and MSD AP U.S. Government teacher Jeff Foster. Foster recalls when he got Beigel an interview for the open teaching position here at MSD.

I don’t want Scott’s memory to be that horrific moment on that afternoon. Scott’s heroism was not that instant; Scott’s heroism was his entire life.

“When I heard that we had an open spot at the school, I knew he was the perfect guy for it, especially since I’d seen the way he worked with kids at the camp,” Foster said. “I was waiting by the phone while he was doing his interview, and I got a call from his interviewer afterwards who said they knew they wanted him a minute into it.”

After he joined the MSD family, he almost immediately became involved in the cross-country program, even before he’d officially started teaching at the school. When he heard that the crosscountry team would be shut down if they failed to find a coach, he stepped up to the challenge, despite noticeably having zero previous experience in the sport he had just signed up to coach.

Junior Alyssa Fletcher, who has been involved in the track program since her freshman year, remembered the energy he brought to the team and the enthusiasm with which he pushed them to do better.

“It was his first year at Stoneman Douglas and before he even began teaching, he accepted the position as head coach for the cross-country team, saving the team and allowing us to run, compete and follow our passion,” Fletcher said.

“He did not know much about distance running, but he did know how to motivate us and make us feel determined to win. Especially with a sport like cross-country, it is hard to prepare someone for a race when it is in our heads, but Coach Beigel knew exactly what to say and when to say it.”

The strongest teams are those in which each member is willing to go the extra mile for one another, and with the cross country team it was Beigel’s charisma that allowed the team to rally around one another and also push to run further and faster.

“His humor and charismatic nature made each person feel special and important,” Fletcher said, “Beigel saw life in such a unique way, a way that no one else can. He passed on his wisdom and knowledge of life to his students every day in his discussions and conversations. Everyone who knew Scott Beigel would say that he brought the light to anywhere he went.”

Fletcher was not the only member of the cross-country team who recognized and appreciated Beigel’s contribution to the cross-country team.

“He was unbelievably funny, but it was a really dry sense of humor. He knew little to nothing about running, but to be honest it made the meets all the more entertaining because he was able to have a unique perspective on the sport as a whole,” senior Nick Boyer said. “On our first practice the advice he gave us was ‘why don’t you guys run a little faster?’ He might not have known much about running, but when we needed someone to step up and save the team, he was always right there.”

After his passing, a flood of support from around the country and around the world came pouring in, ironic in his mothers eyes, as he had always been a reserved man who had tried to avoid the spotlight.

“He was extremely humble. If he could see what is going on he would say to me that he couldn’t believe I had let the whole world in on his life,” Linda Schulman said.

As it was only his first year at MSD, he was extremely nervous about whether or not his students would like him, and how he would do as a teacher. His mother recalled one time while she was on the phone with her son as he was driving home and that he was worried because some students were complaining about his class. Sometimes teachers are branded as not caring about what their students think about them, but Biegel was definitely not one of them. He wanted to be friends with his students and pass onto them knowledge about life, not just knowledge of academics.

Throughout his life, Beigel was a teacher, a cross-country coach, a counselor, a grandson, a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew and a cousin. He meant so much to so many people, a fact he seemed unaware of as he went through his daily life.

A very important part of Beigel’s life was his girlfriend, Gwen Gossler. They met at camp and had been dating for the past seven years. Beigel’s final text message to Gossler read, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

While sitting with his girlfriend at home watching the news about a mass shooting one day, Beigel told Gossler that if anything were to happen to him, he wanted her to tell the world who he really was, and Gossler stuck to her word.

“Now I can tell the truth,” Gossler said at his funeral. “You are an amazingly special person. You are my first love and my soulmate.”

Beigel’s father, Michael Schulman, also spoke at his son’s funeral, asking that his son be remembered not for his heroic actions in his final moments, but for the heroic actions taken throughout his life that defined who he was as a person.

“I don’t want Scott’s memory to be the horrific moment on that afternoon. Scott’s heroism was not that instant; Scott’s heroism was his entire life,” Michael Schulman said.

Scott Beigel’s heroism was his entire life, and he lived it until his final moments. His sarcasm and dry humor tried and failed to hide a massive heart and a love for life, and he left this world a man unaware of the legacy he would leave behind and the number of lives he would touch. Story by Lewis Mizen; photos courtesy of Linda Schulman