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4 | March 22, 2018 | The lake forest leader News
LakeForestLeader.com
School supports Safe Haven students during walkout
Brittany Kapa
Contributing Editor
Students made signs for the walkout depicting
messages about gun violence.
#RisetoSaveLives
Students from Safe Haven
School in Lake Bluff
did just that in conjunction
with the countrywide
National School
Walkout. The hashtag
represented the students
right to peacefully join the
National Walkout movement.
Just one month after
a school shooting in
Parkland, Fla., at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High
School took the lives of
17 teenagers, schools
and teenagers around the
country walked out at 10
a.m. to advocate for stricter
gun laws. All but nine
students from Safe Haven
School participated in the
walkout March 14.
Safe Haven School, located
at 906 Muir Ave.,
Lake Bluff, is a therapeutic
day school home to students
in grades 5-12 that
face emotional disturbances,
learning disabilities,
autism and other health
impairments, according to
Safe Haven’s website.
A group of roughly 35
students, teachers, parents
and school officials
walked from the school
Please see Walkout, 6
Holly Schaefer (middle), the executive director of Safe Haven School, makes a
speech after the 35-person group returned to the school March 14 after participating
in the National Walkout Day. PHOTOS BY Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media
Regina walkout promotes just and peaceful community
Lake Forest
student helps
organize walkout
Eric DeGrechie
Managing Editor
For Regina Dominican
students Gillian King, and
Beth Gillespie, sitting idle
following last month’s
mass shooting in Parkland,
Fla., was just not an option.
“I started seeing people
talking about walking
out on social media and
I thought we have to do
this,” Gillespie said. “As
students, we see school
shootings a lot, but what
we see after is inaction and
apathy to the problem. We
as students have to take
this into our own hands or
nothing will get done.”
King, a senior from
Lake Forest, and Gillespie,
a junior from Chicago, led
the planning of Regina’s
participation in the National
School Walkout Day
on March 14, at the school.
The student-driven exercise
began at 10 a.m. and
lasted for 17 minutes, one
minute for each student
killed at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School
on Feb. 14.
“The first reaction from
the school when we talked
about doing something was
an undoubtable yes. There
was a lot of talk about exactly
what could be done,”
King said. “Walkouts are
very important for change
and solidarity. We also
wanted to do something to
put pressure on Congress.”
Students were dismissed
from class to participate in
four events occurring simultaneously.
In the cafeteria,
students wrote letters
to Congress. In the chapel,
students prayed, reflected
and lit memorial candles.
In the gymnasium, students
signed cards of support for
members of the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High
School communities.
“We wanted to have activities
for students who
didn’t necessarily want
to go the political route,”
King said.
In addition, students
gathered outside on the
Panther Patio where they
discussed what they were
feeling about the day and
held a moment of silence.
Following the shooting
last month, students wore
red to school in honor of
the students. The success
of that initiative helped
set the stage for March 14
events.
“Gillian and Beth put
their passion for this issue
at the forefront. One
thing that always amazes
me about our Regina girls
Organizers Beth Gillespie (left) and Gillian King, of Lake
Forest, talk about the walkout at the conclusion of the
event. Eric DeGrechie/22nd Century Media
is their confidence and
drive,” said Eleanor Rich,
enrollment and recruitment
associate. “They
have an ability to really
put themselves out there
and do something different.
They speak their
minds, state their opinions,
but also have that respected
by the other girls in the
school.”