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6 | March 22, 2018 | The winnetka Current news winnetkacurrent.com NSCDS joins students nationwide in protest Jacqueline Glosniak, Editor In a showing of solidarity with millions of students nationwide protesting gun violence exactly one month after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., dozens of students and staff members from North Shore Country Day School paraded from behind the classroom walls to the front of the Winnetka campus March 14 to participate in the National School Walkout event. At 10 a.m., Middle and Upper School students marched in silence to the east end of campus on Green Bay Road, hoisting signs above their heads displaying messages including “Stop killing our generation,” “Never again,” “Am I next” and “Enough.” Following 17 minutes spent in silence to honor the 14 students and three staff members killed in last month’s massacre, students shouted chants for gun reform and safer schools as local spectators gathered nearby and drivers slowed down and beeped to express support. In a press release issued by the school on March 13, administrators at North Shore Country Day School acknowledged the walkout was entirely voluntary and excused students to participate in the event. Glencoe resident Jed Graboys, a junior who helped spearhead the walkout with the Community Service Club, said he and several students had been planning for the school to participate in a walkout immediately after the national movement day was announced a few weeks ago. He said in the days leading up to the walkout, students held poster-making activities and the Community Service Club led a presentation on why the protest was necessary. “Every day, policymakers make decisions that they think are the best for our country, and we as Students from North Shore Country Day School stand on Green Bay Road the morning of March 14 as part of the National School Walkout movement protesting for legislative change for gun laws and school safety. JACQUELINE GLOSNIAK/22ND CENTURY MEDIA children, our generation, is unheard,” Graboys said. “But now, it’s our time to speak. Now, it’s our time to demand change, demand reform and what we want, and we have to take that opportunity. We have to use the platform we’ve been given and we have to use that platform to demand a better country, to demand a safer country, to demand safer schools, safer workplaces and safer environments all around the country.” Fellow student organizer Livvy Whitmore, a junior from Wilmette, said over the past few weeks, her peers have taken further interest in the movement overall. “I think at North Shore Country Day School, there are kind of a lot of people who have this mindset that [gun violence] is not really going to happen here at North Shore itself because it’s such a great, safe school, but really, the Florida shooting has put into perspective that it really can be any of us,” she said. “We wanted to walk out to kind of showcase how much we care about it and how we really want reform and we want to be able to say that we participated in this form of activism and we did everything we could.” As for reactions following the event, the campus buzzed with an overall positive energy and motivation for change moving forward. English teacher and Upper School Director of Service Learning Drea Gallaga said she felt the walkout was “really great.” “Students have been taking the leadership all along and they’re just really inspiring,” she said. “Students have been energized, and I had a senior say in one of my classes that for the first time in his education, he feels a part of doing something.” Whitmore said while differing student perspectives on the issues of gun violence and school safety have been shared, the walkout sparked needed conversations. “There has been a fair amount of conversation that has come from it, and that of course includes opposing opinions, but I think that overall, it’s been positive because it’s gotten students to talk to one another,” she said. Overall, Graboys feels the movement helped open the eyes of many of his peers. “I think it inspired a lot of people, but I think it was encouraging and showed we’re all united and we’re all in this together,” he said. “I’ve been so impressed and am so grateful for the community’s acceptance and encouragement and determination to make change, create change and to come support the Parkland survivors as well as express their demand for change.” New Trier’s student-led walkout creates powerful message Megan Bernard Contributing Editor Loud chants and colorful signs calling for change created an inspiring atmosphere March 14 at New Trier High School. Hundreds of students responded to the recent mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. by taking part of National School Walkout Day, which was hosted for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. across every time zone today. To demand action against gun violence, Trevians walked out to the Winnetka campus track and the courtyard at the Northfield campus to protest. At Winnetka, as news helicopters idled overhead, students signed and wrote messages about gun control on a 100-foot banner and there was a station to write letters to legislators. In Northfield, the walkout had more student speakers talking about what gun control means to them. Orange streamers were provided to all students. The event was not school-sanctioned but coordinated by Student Alliance after students had a “really strong response” to the February shooting, said Jacob Imber, president of Student Alliance. “It’s been really stressful, but behind this stress, there’s an important cause,” Imber said. “It’s good to know that even if planning this has been a logistical nightmare, it’s something you want to work for because it will make a difference.” Imber, along with other members of Student Alliance, met with school administrators throughout recent weeks to make sure the event would be “centralized and as safe as possible.” “The school has been really accommodating and allowed us the space to make this happen,” Imber said. Please see walkout, 7 Hundreds of students protest gun violence during New Trier Walkout 2018, a student-led event, March 14 at the Winnetka campus. PHOTO SUBMITTED
winnetkacurrent.com news the winnetka current | March 22, 2018 | 7 ‘Standing together and showing their support’ Loyola students host walkout to call for change Michael Wojtychiw Sports Editor On March 14, Loyola Academy, like many school across the nation, took part in the National School Walkout to bring attention to a unified call for change in the way our country addresses school safety, gun violence and adolescent mental health. At 10 a.m., students who wished to participate had two options. The first option was going to the football field, where, when entering the field, the band would play “An American Elegy,” Frank Ticheli’s 1999 musical composition dedicated to those who lost their lives at Columbine High School. Additionally, each student was given a name tag with the name and age of one of the 17 victims from last month’s Parkland, Fla. massacre. After everyone entered the stadium, students stood together around the track and shared a time of quiet reflection as the football clock counted down from 17 minutes. Each minute, the name and Students gather in a dedicated classroom to contact their legislators to voice their concerns and positions. age of one of the Parkland shooting victims was read aloud and the Loyola choir closed in song. “The process (of the walkout) started when the administration got wind that students were starting to band together and do something about what happened in Parkland,” junior Sophia D’Agostino said. “The weekend after Valentine’s Day, I, and I think about 20 other students from different leadership outlets throughout school, got an email from Dr. Baal. We met three times with a group of administration, faculty members and students to discuss so many aspects about what was happening. “We really wanted to know how the school was feeling so we could unify completely, and after a few meetings, we finalized what was going to happen to try to best represent everybody at Loyola.” The second option was available to students who did not wish to participate in the walkout, but wanted to show their solidarity and unity. Approximately 300 students who felt that way went to the chapel and prayed the rosary. The names of the victims were read aloud and the service stood as a powerful collective prayer for peace, according to a press release from the school. “The environment was extremely powerful and I felt the community,” sophomore Ethan Torain said. “The main thing I recognized was the pride that Assistant Principal Charles Heintz, sophomore Ethan Torain and junior Sophia D’Agostino read the names of each Parkland victim in the pressbox of the Loyola football stadium March 14 in Wilmette. PHOTOs SUBMITTED the people had standing together and showing their support. I hope this made people feel more connected to the people of Parkland and helped them realize that our circumstances are somewhat similar so that they can go out and help in any way they can.” Torain was one of the students who got the ball rolling with administration by starting a petition with his classmates and presenting it to Loyola Principal Dr. Kathryn Baal. The petition gave us numbers we could show Dr. Baal and help get her support,” Torain said. Student leaders said close to 1,000 students participated in the walkout. For some students, like sophomore Catherine Flannery, it was their Loyola education and values that prepared them for an event like the this. “My formation class, we talked about it for a whole period and my formation teacher, she did a good job of pushing everyone to think about how others may feel about the situation so that everyone can understand how the other is feeling,” Flannery said. “A lot of teachers, they brought up the emotions people were feeling and how we wanted to and could make a change so everyone is included.” According to the release, students who wanted to express their opinions about school safety, gun violence and/or mental health to their legislators also had the opportunity to do so by telephone or in writing. Students who did not wish to participate in the walkout also had the option to remain in their classrooms. walkout From Page 6 In a letter sent to New Trier parents, administration said they expected a large number of students to participate in the walkout. Therefore, it read, “we are altering the bell schedule in order to maintain student safety, provide adequate supervision, and ensure a safe and respectful environment for all.” The schedule allowed an open period from 9:55- 10:20 a.m., when students could choose to protest or use the period as they would for “any free period, going to areas including the library, cafeteria and student commons,” the letter read. That period was followed by a special adviser period, where teachers took attendance again. Students were not granted permission to leave campus and were expected to be in all classes the rest of the day, including the second adviser room. Media was also not permitted on school grounds. The parent letter concluded with: “We want to thank the student groups who organized this effort for their willingness to communicate with the school so we could put a plan in place that assures the safety and supervision of all students.” The letter was signed by both campus principals, Denise Dubravec (Winnetka) and Paul Waechtler (Northfield). As a result of the letter and altered class schedule, Imber said there was a lot of speculation from the student body. “It was a matter of safety. The school had to position staff around the school to make sure it was safe,” Imber said. “It’s a good thing if you think about it.” Amnesty International Club also sold more than 800 orange T-shirts that read “Protect Kids, Not Guns” on the front and a crossed-out “thoughts and prayers” to read “policy and change” underneathon the back. The shirts were sold to New Trier students and surrounding schools, Imber said. “It was so amazing that this branched out even beyond New Trier,” Imber said. “A lot of different pieces of the puzzle came together for this event. It was really great.”
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