Hayley Licata and Mia Freeman are juniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 14 students and 3 staff members were shot and killed on February 14.

Thanks to Rabbi Zweiback of Stephen S. Wise Temple and CAKE club (led by seniors Minnie Leaman, Gabi Abramov, and Oran Evenhaim), Hayley and Mia spoke today in de Toledo’s Town Hall meeting, one day before they will take to the streets for the student-led March for Our Lives, occurring in cities nationwide.

“This senseless killing cannot go on,” said Hayley, who lost her friend and fellow dancer, Jamie Guttenberg, in the shooting.

On that day, Hayley and Mia both fled the school during the confusion after the fire alarm was pulled. They watched TV news coverage of the event while their classmates were still on lock down inside.

“You never think it will actually happen to you,” Mia said. “No one should ever have to experience this pain.”

As they took questions from the student body about the experience, Hayley and Mia noted that although classes have resumed at Stoneman Douglas, no real learning is happening, because students and teachers alike are not ready.

“Moving on feels impossible,” Hayley said.

Mia admitted, “I felt guilty for being alive” after the shooting. And she knows no one should ever have to feel that way.

To support the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas shooting and to advocate for change, Hayley and Mia asked students to be sure to register to vote, and to support nonprofit efforts like Change the Ref and Orange Ribbons.