This week, students at Scotts Valley High School participated in National Student Walkout Day on March 14, to honor the 17 students who died in the Parkland school shooting and to promote school safety.
SVHS student and vice president of the senior class, Philip Goodrich, helped lead the “Walk it to Stop it” event at the high school on Wednesday. During the school’s third period, at 9:55 a.m. students who wanted to participate, gathered at the student union and proceeded to walk a lap around the fire road.
Following the walk, students gathered in the student union where a voter registration booth was available, a sign with “Parkland Strong” was available for students to sign and a station was set up for students to write letters to local representatives.
“It means a lot. It is an honor to help lead this movement; it kind of felt like my obligation to step up,” Goodrich said. “We are usually a quieter town when it comes to these kinds of things so I think it is inspiring to see all the students coming up to me asking if they can help.”
Goodrich worked closely with SVHS and SVUSD School Superintendent Tanya Krause to ensure the event complied with the school and district’s policies.
According to SVHS Lead Administrator, Michael Hanson, this will be the first time the high school has participated in an event such as this. But he, along with Krause, are pleased with how students organized and planned the event.
“When I was in school, there were no school shootings,” Hanson said. “I think it is tragic that teenagers live in a world where that is something they are trained to deal with on a regular basis.”
The nationwide movement comes exactly one month after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“A lot of people here did talk about it because it did happen at a school,” Goodrich said. “Thankfully after talking to Superintendent Krause we were able to have the support of the district.”
The entire event lasted 17 minutes to honor the 17 victims of the Florida shooting. According to Krause, the Scotts Valley Unified School District and SVHS cannot endorse a walk-out where students leave campus. But she was more than delighted to support an on-campus event organized with the assistance of the high school and the district.
“I wanted to be able to support the students and allow them to have a voice,” Krause said. “I think it is an empowering event.”
In addition to the “Walk it to Stop it” event at the high school, the middle school offered students the opportunity to participate in 17 minutes of silence.
At San Lorenzo Valley High School, student leadership and staff held a “Rally for Peace”, intended to recognize students who died because of school violence. The event lasted 17 minutes and was supervised by school staff. Optional activities for students included open music performances from students, opportunities to register to vote, a space to write letters to Parkland students and a station to write affirmations to SLVHS students and staff. No students were required to participate in any of the activities.
Similar to Scotts Valley Middle School, SLV Middle School observed 17 minutes of silence for those who wanted to participate. Social studies teachers will also be discussing in the coming weeks ways students can advocate their positions to government officials and make their voices heard.
