Hours after a single gunshot rang out at Forest High School about 40 miles away, about 200 students walked out of Eastside High School on Friday morning as part of a National School Walkout.
The Eastside High School walkout, which was coined “Unity Day,” was organized in hopes of bringing together students from various programs to continue the conversation about gun reform, said Jovanna Liuzzo, an Eastside junior and walkout organizer. At 10 a.m., students walked out onto the track field and listened to speeches by three peers. Until 10:45 a.m., the group completed laps around the track, toting signs and chanting pro-gun-reform slogans like “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, the NRA has got to go.”
“There’s so many things that we can do in this town to invoke actual change,” she said.
The walkout was meant to both give students a voice and point them to resources they could use to continue their involvement, she said. The 17-year-old encouraged students to register to vote at a booth set up during lunch.
Bailey McIntyre, 17, stopped before walking out of her math class to send her parents a text to let them know she was being cautious. The news of the school shooting Ocala still lingered in her mind.
“I remember I walked out and I don’t know, I still had this fear,” the Eastside High School senior said. “Nothing has changed really.”
One Forest High School student was injured after a non-student brought a sawed off shotgun and shot it into a classroom minutes after first period started Friday, according to Alligator archives.
McIntyre said students will have to stand together to create the change they want to see.
“We need to help teach each other and share our experiences with each other and connect so that we’re not ostracizing each other,” she said.
Contact Jessica Giles at jgiles@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @jessica_giles_.
Students at Eastside High School walkout of class in support of gun reform.
