On Friday, March 16, 2018, at 10:00 AM, about three quarters of the Marblehead High School student body walked out of their classrooms and made their way to the field house. The school’s walk-in was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 14, along with the other walkouts from thousands of schools around the country, but was rescheduled after two snow days were brought on by Winter Storm Skylar.
The Marblehead High School Walk-in was led by junior Christine Sloss and the class officers from all four grades. “I wanted to address the fact that it wasn’t a regular protest walkout. I feel as though this year the school has started several important discussions, and I wanted to focus on the next step after discussions- the action step- and this is why I didn’t want to limit it to a gun violence protest. I wanted to see how the survivors of Parkland were using their voice of a national scale and that we in Marblehead can do the same,” she shared.
Each class officer read a short biography of each of the seventeen victims of the Parkland shooting, and there was a seventeen second moment of silence after each person’s biography. Freshman Sophie Hauck was one of the class officers to read a biography. She described her experience reading the biography of fifteen year old Luke Hoyer: “It was surreal to me to describe someone the same age as me, who died only weeks ago by something so horrific. When I first read the information regarding the shooting, I felt detached from the humanity of the victims. But, as I learned more about their interests and ambitions, I remembered that I was speaking of real people who had family and friends and schoolwork and a life just like mine, only one that no longer has a future. I wanted to be involved in this because I truly feel that as students, we understand this issue better than anyone else, after all, it’s affecting our generation in our learning environment. I feel like it’s our responsibility as the lucky ones who don’t have to deal with the immediate consequences of incidents like this to remember those who did.
MHS Spanish teacher Holly Grose eagerly attended the walk-in. She said, “I attended the walk-in to support the students and to let them know that I appreciate the fact that they are acting on their convictions. The students did a wonderful job honoring those lost in the tragedy in Florida. Hearing about the loss of life of these young people moved me. It is important that students feel empowered to speak out about issues that impact them.”
However, many students and staff members chose not to attend the walk in.
Noelle Bostley, Senior, did not attend the walk in and said that, “If the school allowed the students to have a walk-in like the rest of the country did as part of the national movement, I may have been more inclined to go, even though I do not support gun control.” Bostley stated that she appreciated the memorial aspect of it, and she thinks it was good that it happened, but she didn’t feel the need to go personally. Another issue surrounding the walk-in was peer pressure and judgement. Some students went to the walk-in because of the fear of scrutinization if they did not go. However, MHS Junior Haden Wikar stated, “Overall, the walk-in went very well. There were a few parts that raised questions, such as when we were supposed to leave our classrooms, but this can be expected. I had been concerned that someone might call out, trying to be funny. Fortunately, it all went very smoothly and the transition into action was seamless. The administration’s help was evident, but it only seemed to have a positive effect.”
The most important part of the walk-in, however, was the civic engagement. Students and staff were given the opportunity to write letters on issues that were important to them to government officials including Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, Congressman Seth Moulton, and Governor Charlie Baker. Finally, students were given the opportunity to make cards of sympathy for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The walk-in at Marblehead High School was an effective and powerful way to memorialize the victims of the Parkland, Florida shootings, and to create ways to get civically involved in the community.