Story & Video by Scott Schaefer
On Wednesday, March 14 – one month to the day after 17 students and teachers were killed by a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida – dozens of local students walked out of schools as part of a nationwide protest against gun violence.
At Highline High School, dozens of students gathered near the staff parking lot for a somber memorial to the Feb. 14 victims of the second-deadliest shooting at a U.S. public school.
Names of the 17 shooting victims were read aloud by a student named William – who also read brief descriptions of each – while student participants held large signs honoring them:
- Alyssa Alhadeff, 14
- Scott Beigel, 35
- Martin Duque, 14
- Nicholas Dworet, 17
- Aaron Feis, 37
- Jaime Guttenberg, 14
- Chris Hixon, 49
- Luke Hoyer, 15
- Cara Loughran, 14
- Gina Montalto, 14
- Joaquin Oliver, 17
- Alaina Petty, 14
- Meadow Pollack, 18
- Helena Ramsay, 17
- Alex Schachter, 14
- Carmen Schentrup, 16
- Peter Wang, 15
Turnout was around 100 students, who mostly stood in silence and often bowed their heads.
THREAT RUMOR
A social media post regarding the walkout led to rumors of a threat.
Before the walkout, the person who made the threat was identified and questioned by police. Police determined the threat not to be credible, but as a precaution, security and added local police were on hand.
“I applaud our student leaders today,” Principal Vicki Fisher said. “The student-led walkout was well conducted and the participants were respectful through the duration of the event.”
Here’s edited video from a raw live feed we broadcast on our Facebook page:
SYLVESTER MIDDLE SCHOOL
Here are some photos courtesy Kathleen Nguyen of the walkout at Sylvester Middle School, where just last week there was a lockdown due to a student bringing a gun to campus (read more here):
KENNEDY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
At Kennedy Catholic High School, students and staff joined together to pray for the 17 victims. Directly following, students set 17 biodegradable dove balloons free as a symbol of solidarity:
Prayer Service – March 14, 2018
Today at 10:00am, students and staff joined together to pray for the 17 victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Directly following, students set 17 biodegradable dove balloons free as a symbol of solitude.
Posted by Kennedy Catholic High School – Burien on Wednesday, March 14, 2018
EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL
And here are some photos taken at Evergreen High School’s campus, courtesy student Efrain Moreno, who said:
“The walkout at Evergreen High school was definitely different than the rest of the schools. We started with chants such as ‘What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!’
We proceeded to have 17 seconds of silence to respect those who passed away at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school.
Then Abel Berhan (a senior) give a small speech, then introduced Andrew Galan (another senior) who spoke about gun control and how the government should act.
The final speaker a junior Efrain Moreno (me) gave another speech about how we shouldn’t fear coming to school.
Abel then took back the megaphone and talked about how Highline Public Schools need to expand emotional and mental support, and finally ended the walkout with a final chant, ‘Choose our lives, over guns!”’
Click images to view larger versions/slideshow:
Students across our district are raising their voices to bring attention to school safety today. Our promise to know every student by name, strength and need is a powerful tool for preventing harm to our students and staff. #HighlinePromise pic.twitter.com/vN8E4izlsY
— Highline Schools (@HighlineSchools) March 14, 2018