March 2018

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Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

Friday, March 23, 2018

Vol. 43, Issue 6, 24 pages

www.tphsfalconer.com

CALL TO ACTION

photo used by permission of kaelyn ricci

#NEVERAGAIN: TPHS students march to the quad during 3rd period at 10 a.m. The students, along with tens of thousands of others from about 2,800 schools around the nation, participated in the National School Walkout to honor the 17 students who were killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14. By Dhathry Doppalapudi and Kahyun Koh STAFF WRITER AND FEATURE EDITOR

On March 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:17 a.m., TPHS students, joining students from about 2,800 other schools across the country, marched to the quad from their third-period classes to participate in the National School Walkout organized by the Women’s March Youth Empower organization. The walkout was described as a “call to action for Congress to pass gun control legislation,” according to the event’s official website. Each minute of the walkout was dedicated to one of the 17 students and teachers killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The walkout at TPHS was organized by three students: Sumin Hwang (12), Kiana Kazemi (12) and Hannah Berman-Schneider (12). According to Kazemi and Berman-Schneider, the purpose of the TPHS walkout was to give students an opportunity to voice their opinions on school shootings and larger issues related to guns, such as universal background checks for gun ownership and destigmatization of mental illness. “What Kiana, Sumin and I were aiming for by creating the TPHS walkout was to prevent students from forgetting [about school shootings],” Berman-Schneider said. When the three students first proposed

their idea of doing a walkout at TPHS to administrators during a 30-minute meeting, the administration was “very cooperative and understanding,” about the idea, according to Kazemi. According to Principal Rob Coppo, teachers were informed about the walkout and most did not impose any punitive actions on students for participating in it. Coppo, who started teaching in 1999, the year of the Columbine shooting that killed 12 students and one teacher in Colorado, says he understands students’ concerns about the Parkland shooting and violence in society. “School shootings are one of the most horrific tragedies that we’ve recently come to have to deal with,” Coppo said. “Students in our schools feel vulnerable and voiceless sometimes because they are constantly cornered by rules.” Throughout the walkout, Coppo and several staff members patrolled the school grounds to monitor students and confirm they were not engaged in any violence. Police cars were also stationed in the front and back parking lots to question students who left campus during the walkout. Before the walkout, Islem Stringfellow (11) and his classmates felt a little wary about leaving their third period classes, even though Stringfellow’s teacher, Alexa Scheidler, had informed students she would inflict no punishment for

participating. “[When it was time,] everyone in the class walked out except for six students, and a lot of the students [who walked out] had a look of uncertainty on their faces,” Stringfellow said. “We all slowly got up from our seats, and when we did, our teacher pretended she didn’t see us.” Out on the quad, a group of students surrounding Kazemi, Hwang and Berman-Schneider lifted their handmade posters in the air in an act of silent protest as they looked out on hundreds of other students who flocked the side tables and grass areas of the quad. “We held up these beautiful, colorful posters that said ‘#i’vehadenoughof,’ followed by different expressions that we came up with,” Berman-Schneider said. “We also didn’t want students to just stand around for 17 minutes and not feel included, so Sumin and Kiana had the amazing idea of having them sign the petition that we are sending to Congress about this issue.” The walkout was not meant to be a political message that favored a specific political ideology over another but an action of solidarity against gun violence, according to Kazemi and BermanSchneider. Students, even those who are against proposed gun safety measures, were highly encouraged to practice their First Amendment rights by voicing their

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Possible security changes after TPHS threat By Farhan Hossain and Michael Nirula FEATURE EDITOR AND SPORTS EDITOR A TPHS freshman was taken into police custody on Feb. 22 after making threats against the campus in class and online, and four days later, a former TPHS student now attending another

school in the district was also taken into custody for making older, unrelated threats unknown to officials until now, according to Principal Rob Coppo. In both cases, students reported the threats to the TPHS administration, who alerted the San Diego Police Department.

Sarah Matthews* had one class with the freshman, and said multiple classmates reported the student after he began “showing signs.” “I think the threat was really him asking for help but he didn’t know how to,” Matthews said.

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BIRD’S EYE VIEW

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March 2018 by TPHS Falconer - Issuu