Florida

Meet the Teacher Behind the Parkland Student Activists

Jeff Foster, whose students sing his praises, acknowledges his role in getting a new Florida gun control measure passed but deflects the credit

Nearly every student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who has become a familiar face by advocating for gun reform has come from Jeff Foster's AP U.S. Government and Politics class, NBC News reported.

He's had students go on to become elected officials, but he said watching kids from his class in a nationally televised debate with National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch — he was offstage, huddling with Emma González and others during commercials — was a much different experience.

"To see that happen and realize that's someone that's in your class, it's pretty crazy," Foster said in an interview. "It's almost like an out-of-body experience."

The fast-talking 46-year-old whose students sing his praises acknowledges his role in getting a new Florida gun control measure passed but deflects the credit, calling his students' advocacy "the ultimate grass-roots movement."

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