“We are tired of being ignored,” says Emma Gonzalez, newfound activist and victim of Parkland high school shooting. The nationwide school ‘walkouts’ that occurred in the wake of the Parkland murders were created by students and gained attention from the media. While it was immediately perceived by many as a gun control protest, many began to interpret it as a school safety initiative. In our own building, a walkout was not scheduled, but spoken about prior to March 14th. Many students wished to ‘walk out’ of class, despite it not being addressed by staff.

“I’ve heard many people view it as a way to get out of class. That isn’t what this is for.” explained junior Orenda Senior. While many viewed it as a way to get out of class. This, of course, was something that deterred administration from hosting a walkout. The walkout was an opportunity to stand in solidarity with students in Florida. It was also a respectful way to mourn their loss. In accordance with this, a walkout is a great method of raising awareness for the needs of the students. In Terryville, this means the need for school safety due to lack of a Student Resource Officers (SROs.) An SRO would give our schools a police presence in case of an emergency, and also a listening ear for the students. They would be able to take on some responsibilities of administration as well.  Although the idea of bringing back an SRO position has been considered, it has ultimately been overlooked due to lack of sufficient funding. Junior, Jordan Conklin, believed that a structured walkout would help Terryville advocate for an SRO: “ I believe if a bunch of students walk out people will finally listen to us.” As students, our voices are willfully unheard, leading us to believe they are invalid. A walkout was an opportunity for students to voice an opinion that the town was previously unreceptive of: we need an SRO because school safety should be a priority. On the morning of March 14th, Mr. Hults made the student body aware that walking out of class would be discouraged and students would appear as though they didn’t have a concrete goal or focus. Still, a group of students made the decision to walk out of class and into the main lobby of the school, where a moment of silence was held for the victims of Parkland. Mr. Hults and other administration, who were waiting in the lobby, listened to the ideas of these students, where the idea of attending the Board of Finance meetings was proposed. The following night, some of the students who had walked out of class attended the finance meeting where the board discussed the budget for school safety.

At the meeting, Dr. Semmel discussed the proposed budget for the 2018-2019 school year. School safety was something they intended to focus on (funds would be put towards it). Senior Maria Cesare spoke on behalf of the students, detailing our desire to have an SRO included in the budget. The board was receptive of this and was thankful students came out to voice their opinions. Because of this, the concept is now going to be brought up during the board of finance meeting on Thursday,March 29th, where the budget for an SRO will be discussed. Hopefully more students will attend this meeting to advocate for an SRO.

Written by Julia Langeway