Students across the country have taken a stand in what they believe by showing their support to the victims of the Parkland Shooting last month. On Wednesday, March 14, the survivors of the Parkland shooting, along with tens of thousands of other kids across the nation came together for a National School Walkout.
To show support to the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, James Buchanan held a ceremony to honor the students and teachers who lost their lives February 14, 2018.
Mackenzie Layton (11), Alyssa Blair (11), Aria Jewel Barnett (11), Kali Rotharmel (11), and Kiersten Siko (11) organized the ceremony during activity period, called Walk Up, Not Walk Out. Students were able to go to the auditorium and watch a presentation focusing on the 17 lives lost a month before. Each victim had a poster with their name on it as well as a slide to remember their lives. Following this, there was also a moment of silence.
Layton, Blair, Barnett, Rotharmel, and Siko organized plans for a walkout throughout social media.
“I went to Mackenzie, and asked her if she could explain the walkout to me when I saw it on Twitter,” Blair said. “She asked if I would be interested in planning and organizing a walkout, here.”
The girls went to the principal, Mr. Rodney Benedick (Faculty), to discuss their options when it came to walking out of school. He informed them a protest that disrupts the school day could result in disciplinary actions.
“We saw articles about kids getting in trouble, and we wanted to do it in a productive way,” Blair said. “We still wanted to make a difference so we went to Mr. Benedick about it.”
The girls and Benedick worked together to formulate a way to support the Parkland victims but not cause a disruption to the school day. That is when they created the idea of a Walk Up.
“We wanted to show that no matter your political view, we could all come together and prevent it from happening again in the future,” Blair said. “We wanted to slowly make a difference in our school.”
The Walk Up was created for students and adults to make a difference in other’s lives, by showing kindness to strangers or people you may not normally talk to.
“The Walk Up isn’t going to end today,” Layton said. “We want it to continue throughout the year and throughout the rest of your lives.”
Students were challenged to walk up to 14 new kids and 3 adults they may not normally talk to, disregarding differences. Students were challenged to walk up to the kid who sits alone and ask him to join your group, to walk up to the kid who never has a partner.
They did not just stop at kids, but also walk up to their teachers and thank them.
In this way, the students of James Buchanan came together to make everyone feel a part of the school community.
