By Adam Henschel
In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting that sent shockwaves through the nation, students and faculty alike have taken it upon themselves to stand up for what they believe in and fight for a change. Mashpee joined the movement on Friday with a student-run assembly, part of the national #enough walkout.
Initially organized by the Women's March Youth Empower, the main message of the #enough walkout was to make a powerful statement to lawmakers about the growing issue of gun control. However, as different organizations and school systems have jumped on board, both the purposes and intensities have been formatted to fit each individual communities needs.
The idea was to have students walk out of class at ten o'clock A.M. on March 14, as both a tribute and a protest that shines light on the resurfacing issues of recent tragedies.
Organized by sophomores Stella Bold and Peyton Dauley, Mashpee High School decided to participate in the national movement two days later due to school being cancelled on the 14th. This delay, however, took no attention away from the power and purpose of this protest.
In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting that sent shockwaves through the nation, students and faculty alike have taken it upon themselves to stand up for what they believe in and fight for a change. Mashpee joined the movement on Friday with a student-run assembly, part of the national #enough walkout.
Initially organized by the Women's March Youth Empower, the main message of the #enough walkout was to make a powerful statement to lawmakers about the growing issue of gun control. However, as different organizations and school systems have jumped on board, both the purposes and intensities have been formatted to fit each individual communities needs.
The idea was to have students walk out of class at ten o'clock A.M. on March 14, as both a tribute and a protest that shines light on the resurfacing issues of recent tragedies.
Organized by sophomores Stella Bold and Peyton Dauley, Mashpee High School decided to participate in the national movement two days later due to school being cancelled on the 14th. This delay, however, took no attention away from the power and purpose of this protest.
On Friday March 16, Mashpee students were dismissed from their classes at 9:20 A.M. to participate in the optional walkout. There was a shortage of students in the class to begin with due to Friday being counted as an excused absence district wide. As a result, the attendance of about 200 students was not as high as it might have been, but those who attended were both present and passionate.
Students piled into the auditorium shortly after an announcement was made, and were greeted at the door with small orange ribbons that were to be pinned upon their shirts. The majority of the crowd was lower classmen, who carried themselves with remarkable maturity and attentiveness as there was a growing sense of urgency and seriousness that enveloped the audience.
Stella and Peyton began by greeting the crowd and explaining the purpose of the mysterious ribbons that had been gifted. “Orange was decided to be the national color of schools participating in the #enough walkout,” explained the two sophomores. “Because many kids don’t own the color orange the pins are a way to get it incorporated to all.”
After the brief explanation the audience was asked to take a moment of silence for the 17 victims who lost their lives in the recent Parkland shooting. The auditorium was chillingly silent as they honored the victims, many of whom had died at a disturbingly young age. To add to this mourning, the hosts of the movement then proceeded to provide a harrowing description of each of those who had passed away.
The mourning period came to an end and the a message of US Representative Bill Keating was read to share his support in the students brave enough to protest. Stella and Peyton then discussed the purpose of the movement, stressing that it was not only about gun control, but also about increased funding for school safety and mental health awareness.
Each of the protest leaders then proceeded to read their own speeches, which summarized the purpose of us gathering in the auditorium that morning and students can do moving forward.
Although there was no tension with administrators or aggressive picketing as commonly portrayed in the media, Mashpee High School’s version of the #enough walkout brought both awareness to all important issues and ensured everyone that we as a community would not be silent.