Philadelphia students walked out of their classrooms this morning, joining thousands of students around the country who participated in the National School Walkout.
At 10 a.m., students left their classrooms to honor the 17 people killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
At Friends Central School in Lower Merion Township, more than 40 students were involved in organizing a walkout for their classmates along City Avenue. Students held signs with the names and photos of the 17 victims from the Parkland shooting as they stood shoulder to shoulder in silence along the sidewalk outside their school.
A few blocks away in Philadelphia, students walked from their classrooms at Overbrook High School on Lancaster Avenue. Students and staff at Samuel Gompers Elementary School, neighboring the campus of St. Joe’s, also walked out.
St. Joe’s is on spring break this week, but Catherine Collins, reference librarian at St. Joe’s, organized a small group of St. Joe’s employees to participate in the walkout at Gompers. Following the walkout, some of the St. Joe’s employees returned to the Chapel of Saint Joseph for a prayer service and vigil.
In the Chapel, Tinamarie Stolz, campus minister, echoed the words of the organizers of the national walkouts to encourage activism to prevent another gun violence tragedy.
“Enough children have died in schools from gun violence,” Stolz said. “Enough Philadelphians have died from gun violence. In our own city an average of four people are shot everyday. Enough is enough.”
According to data from the Philadelphia Police Department, there were 317 homicides in 2017. 80 percent of those were from guns.
Citing a need for faith with action, the group pulled out their phones and formed a circle on the chapel lawn to call senators and representatives, urging them to pass legislation restricting gun access.
At St. Joseph’s Prep, a private Jesuit high school in Philadelphia, Student Council leaders organized a walkout in conjunction with the school administration. Student Council members read a prayer for those fighting to end gun violence and the students who walked out stood for a moment of silence.
At around 11 a.m., a large crowd of students from various private and public Philadelphia schools gathered outside the headquarters of the School District of Philadelphia on Broad Street. Toting handmade signs, they marched up Broad Street towards City Hall.
Seth Williams, a senior at Academy at Palumbo in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Philadelphia, participated in the march.
“There are hundreds, probably thousands of kids out here all from different schools, but when we come together we’re all fighting for the same things,” Williams said. “We want to make a change, and we want to have our voices heard”
Williams said the shooting in Parkland sparked this protest, but the movement is more than just one protest.
“To be honest it’s not only about the Parkland shooting,” Williams said. “It’s an opportunity for us to get out here and have our voices heard. Just because we’re a group of ‘kids’ doesn’t mean we’re not educated about these topics.”
Kassidy Arrington is a junior at Central High School, a public school in the Logan section of Philadelphia. She marched with her friends and carried a sign with a hand-drawn basketball hoop and the words: “Shoot ur shot, not ur classmates.”
Arrington said she wanted to make a sign that would resonate with her fellow students.
“Shoot your shot means go for it,” Arrington explained. “ Do what you’re gonna do, and be real about it. It’s encouraging us to focus on our lives.”
Like many others at the Center City march, Arrington said she is looking for improvements in gun control.
“People need to recognize that a gun is a weapon and that people matter more,” Arrington said.