National School Walkout Hits Home

Students in schools across Southeast Missouri took part in National School Walkout Day by leaving class Wednesday under adult supervision and participating in a 17-minute peaceful protest, in response to the recent Florida school shooting incident that took the lives of 17 Parkland students and teachers.

"Me and a bunch of my friends walked out of school because we wanted to show respect to the people who had died in the shooting," said Chaley Meace, a ninth-grader at Jackson Junior High School.

Meace said about 60 people participated and no one was disruptive during the event.

"We went outside, and we went and walked around. Then we all got in a circle, and we prayed," Meace said. "And then we walked around the track a little more, then we went inside. When we got in the circle there was like five people that went out in the middle and they were praying and saying stuff."

Makaylia Hency, an eighth-grader at the school, said an announcement was made over the intercom at 9:50 a.m. to inform the students the protest was taking place.

"It said we should all take a moment and pray for Florida's shooting," Hency said. "Then everyone at 10 o'clock went to the track for 17 minutes and walked around. And we were told that if we left (campus) we'd get suspended, but no one did because that's half of the school."

Hency said there were teachers supervising the students outside, including the school resource officer.

"At the very end there were students there who told everyone to gather in a circle, and they prayed," Hency said.

Ninth-grader Shayleigh Smith said she was among "60 to 70, maybe more" students who participated.

"As soon as we walked out there, everyone was kind of being loud and jittery, I guess because they were excited to get out of class," Smith said. "But as soon as we started walking around, everyone was quiet and it was pretty peaceful."

Smith said students who participated during the protest at Jackson Junior High School were "just talking about how we should be thankful that were still here, and we haven't had a shooting, and stuff like that. And how we should pray for the people in Florida."

Jackson School district superintendent Dr. John Link said he felt the schools had done a good job of being proactive about the event.

"Our principals have been talking to their students," Link said. "At the lower level they did a really good job of having a moment of silence and doing an intercom message to the students to inform them of why and what was going on. Then there were a few students who did participate there."

Link said at the high school there was a group of students, fewer than 100, but "a good group of students," and the protest was "very well organized."

"[The students] went out on what we call the 'Trail of Honor,'" Link said. "They took their 17 minutes and read off the names of the students who passed, and after 17 minutes went right back in and back to class."

The event was organized for it to happen between classes so that it wasn't a major disruption, according to Link.

"We did keep it a closed campus so that it was only the students, and our local police were aware of what was going on too, so we did have them patrolling the area," Link said. "They're proud of the way our students handled the situation, they're very proud of the way our administrators handled the situation."

Link said students are "very knowledgeable now, and they do have an opinion, and their opinion does matter. The student voice does matter to us."

Link said there some teachers participated as well -- those who weren't in class.

"It was a very good learning experience, very safe, very coordinated, very purposeful," Link said.

Chris Kase, principal of Cape Central High school, said nearly 200 students participated in the walkout Wednesday, which was about 20 percent of the 1,130 students.

"I shared some thoughts with the group about not letting a walk out of class be the only thing that they did to affect positive change," Kase said.

He also talked about the need to keep the school building safe.

"It's not just about walking out and spending time out of class," Kase said. "But it really is about making sure we are doing everything we can to make our building and schools everywhere a positive place for students to learn."

Laura Clubb, a parent, said she called Central High School during the day to make sure if her children walk out, they were not going to be subject to discipline.

"I've got two girls at Cape Central, they're both in the ninth grade, Elizabeth and Lorelai," Clubb said. "They're both pretty politically aware kids, and they have been talking about the walkout since it's been publicized a few weeks ago."

"They said nope, no discipline," Clubb said about the answer from the school. "They're going to walk outside, we'll have teachers out there to keep it orderly, and they're coming back in,' and I said 'Great.'"

Clubb said the high school students seemed "very well behaved," except for one.

"They walked to the flagpole; they stood around the American flag. Once everybody got out there, one of the kids slowly read the names of the victims [of Parkland High School]," Clubb said. "There was one agitator walking around, saying some pro-gun stuff, and trying to give out flyers. But everyone for the most part was quiet, except for him."

Clubb was unsure if the individual she described as an agitator was a student.

"He was the only person I saw causing any problems," Clubb said. "And the only problem he caused was he was just really irritating when we were all trying to be quiet."

Clubb said she recalled seeing a faculty member walk over and "put his hand on the kid's shoulder to kind of quiet him down, because they were reading the names of the dead, and [the individual] was laughing."

When the demonstration was over, Clubb said the principal had a message for the students:

"'You've made a statement today. Lets keep learning, and let's keep the dialogue going,' and they went back inside."