The
Tiger HI-LINE
Friday, April 27, 2018
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Volume 58 Edition 25
Lexie Williams photos
About 140 students walked out of class to bring awareness to gun violence in schools. Counterprotesters watched on the side with political flags. Sophia Schillinger photo
Students walk out over gun violence concerns
At 10 a.m. on April 20, 140 high school students filed out of their classrooms and filled the lanes of the CFHSl track. Their reason for leaving their classes in the middle of the period was to add their voices to the students around the nation who were honoring the lives of the 17 killed in the Parkland, Fla., shooting, to recognize the anniversary of Columbine and to voice their anger over gun violence. “I am so glad that we are here joined by thousands of other students today across the nation. To use our voices to say we care, we are affected and we demand change,” said sophomore Kellen Chenoweth, a speaker at the walkout. “As students, a majority of who are underage and cannot vote, it’s easy to dismiss our ability and responsibility to push for a change when change is needed,”she said. When the CFHS Young Democratic Club president
Ryan Westhoff heard of other schools participating in their own walkouts, he immediately thought that Cedar Falls could contribute to this national event of political activism. “We wanted to create a larger conversation around the issue of gun control as well as show that we are continuing our activism and that we won’t go away anytime soon,” Westhoff said. Since the high school is a public school, the walkout could not be school-sponsored, meaning the CFHS Young Democrats Club had to spread details about the event through social media and by word. “We could not use the announcements or design posters to hang at school, and instead we had to get things out by word of mouth. At first we thought that was going to be a big problem, but, eventually, we worked around it and got the word out anyway,” Westhoff said. The walkout turnout was
much bigger than expected. Originally, the CFHS Young Democrats Club had approximately 40 students signed up. But as the date approached, Westhoff increasingly heard conversation about the event and grew more confident. “I think that all of us who organized the event would say that the event surpassed our wildest dreams,” he said. “Throughout the days leading up to the walkout, I heard many different conversations amongst students about their positions on the issue, and that’s the climate that we wanted to create.” When junior Maya Gabriele, heard about the walkout, she was excited and proud that the school organized its first political event and that the students at CF could add their voice to the protests occuring around the nation. “It felt good to feel like I was actually doing something,” she said. “It was the first political thing our school has done, so I thought that was really cool, and I want-
ed to support it. I was proud of the rest of the people at the school that were willing to stand up too.” When students arrived on the track, Chenoweth and Westhoff spoke about the purpose of the march and how students can help enact change in the community, encouraging the students to keep participating in events like the walkout. “Those of us that can’t vote, it’s these types of protests and events that are such a necessity to participate in. Every voice should be heard and every voice should matter,” Chenoweth said. Junior Alana Smith, participated in the event and marched out of the school on that Friday for those who will never be able to. “It’s for the people that never got to walk out of their school again. We’re walking out for those people who died,” Smith said. Westhoff also spoke to the students at the walkout. He
re-lived his elementary years and talked about how as a fifth grader, instead of learning about math, he learned tips on how to avoid a shooter and how to distract them with tennis balls. He explained the struggle students face during this generation. “Our generation grew up with the fear of mass shootings looming over our heads. An era where it seems like we’re all just waiting for the next school, the next body count, the next stories about the lives of the students that were taken. And still, we still have to go to school the next day,” he said. Junior Olivia Rodgers shares the same fear as Westhoff and joined the many students on the track. “I’m here because I really want to feel safe in my school. I don’t want to feel like half way through the day I want to go home,” she said.
‘WALKOUT’
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