Student Leadership Shown Through School Walkout
March 23, 2018
On Wednesday, March 14th at 10:00am, students all over the country stood up from their classes and walked out of school. This was the one month anniversary of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students and educators. High schoolers across the country were hoping to show a united front to our government that school is “no place for fear” and that the safety of students and educators should not be in question upon arriving at school each morning.
Participation in this national event at Manitou Springs High School was lead by Aubrey Hall (12), Kaitlyn Davidson (12), Kaitlyn Cashdollar (11), Becca and Mia Heiniger (12,9), and Jensen Delius (12). The event was promoted on Facebook and around 50 people replied, but Hall said, “There were definitely more people than that that showed up.” Estimated turnout on the Mustang Plaza was roughly 200 students. Some participants held up photos of the 17 victims of the Florida school shooting and others had signs calling for change in gun policies.
Along with the walkout, many students were excited about registering to vote and making an impact on the choices of government representatives. Students in some classes wrote postcards to government officials. Hall said, “We got an incredible amount of postcards written to Colorado representatives. The walkouts sent an important message to politicians: that we will not be ignored.”
