The March ‘Four’easters’ stole four and a half days from the ORRHS schedule, including March 14, which had been designated as National School Walkout Day. The memorial and protest was then rescheduled to occur last Wednesday on March 21 at the same time of 10:00 am. However, this meant students would have missed the last 12 minutes of second period, and thus the administration was said to have nixed the idea. In the end, the event was ultimately cancelled due to impending weather and incorrect information that spread throughout the student body.
“First we had been told we would only be allowed to go out at 10:17 am instead, which would have been during Bulldog Block,” said senior Madeline Scheub, the main organizer of the event. “We were warned that students would not be protected from any punishment if they went through with it. We did not want to go through with this, as we believed any discipline taken would overshadow the walkout itself and take attention away from the message we were trying to spread.”
Principal Mike Devoll gave this statement on the matter: “The students indicated to me that the weather was a factor in cancelling. I received an email from a student stating it was cancelled. We never spoke of any disciplinary action. I prefered 10:17 am to 10:00 am for a start time, and conversations were cordial and collaborative.”
Many of the students and parents who heard it had been cancelled said they thought it was cancelled because students now faced disciplinary action. Regardless, the fact that the walkout did not take place was disheartening to many.
“It’s stupid that it was cancelled,” senior Bella Rodrigues argued. “It’s a protest, and the administration had no power over it in the first place. Shootings are going to keep happening. This is about us and our safety so we have to make a change.”
“I think the student body shouldn’t be scared by the administration telling them not to take part in a national protest,” added senior Ethan Mort. “Them telling us not to participate in the walkout reschedule is similar to a factory owner telling his rioting workers to not go on strike.”
Freshman Spencer Perez-Dormitzer said he was sad it was cancelled, “Because I had been looking forward to it. My brother took part in the junior high walkout and made a speech.”
In contrast to the high school, the ORR Junior High School student body held a successful walkout.
Around two-thirds of all seventh and eighth grade students participated in the memorial, including several who made speeches to their peers.
“I thought our students handled the walkout in a mature and respectful manner,” junior high Principal Kevin Brogioli stated. “They used it as an opportunity to speak about each of the seventeen victims in Parkland, Florida before having a moment of silence in their honor.”
Sophie Martins was one of the students who led the organization of the junior high walkout.
“We actually learned about it during class, and as soon as I heard I was super excited,” Martins said. “Word travels fast around the school, and we also used social media to tell people about the walkout. We did negotiate and we flipped one of our class blocks with ‘flex’ so we wouldn’t be missing class. There were seventeen speeches made by students, and each was assigned one of the victims to talk about for our memorial.”
Martins also said, “We tried to make it clear that it was a protest in calling for gun control, but that it was also about remembering the victims and making sure for their sake it doesn’t happen again.”
As young people, Martins said, “Standing up and raising our voices is important because we are citizens of this society and we should have a voice in it.”
Back at the high school, the prior week was a busy one for the majority of students, on top of any walkout attempt. The entire 12th grade finished up and handed in the annual senior project articles, and the drama production took up much of the week for any cast members. As a result, a good number of students were not aware about the cancellation or about the change in dates at all.
“I didn’t know it was cancelled, but I also hadn’t heard about the change in dates at all,” sophomore Alexa McLeod commented. “I was waiting to hear someone talk about it.”
“There’s not much we could do about the weather, but the setbacks were really frustrating,” said senior Lauren Gonsalves. “Especially since it’s so difficult to accurately spread information through the school and many people were struggling to keep track of everything.”
The walkout wasn’t the only thing that students missed due to the original snow day cancellation of the event. The League of Women Voters had been scheduled to help students ages 16 years old and older pre-register online to vote during Bulldog Block.
“I think the most important thing that the walkout would’ve had to offer was pre-voter registration,” senior Alice Bednarczyk said. “The ability to let young people vote and understanding voting is very important and it’s something that adults should try and take the initiative to teach students about.”
ORR Update
By Jo Caynon