We have all heard about the national school walkouts that took place a couple of weeks ago. The walkout, occurring exactly one month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, functioned as a memorial as well as a protest. Quartz Hill High School was one of many schools and universities across the country that participated in this massive demonstration. However, there was much more to the protest than simply making signs and chanting. Action by students behind the scenes is what made the whole thing possible.

Starting about two weeks in advance, a group of students, including eleventh graders Mariah Gifford and Tyler Sinness, held a meeting with our school’s administrators to plan the walkout. As Gifford explained, they discussed: “school security concerns, what [they] wanted to accomplish, and the polarization of the school.” After three meetings, it was decided that students would be able to hold a protest on that day, offering the Big Gym as a base for those participating. The school compromised with the students, allowing them to take their protest outside of the gym as long as they did not leave school grounds. There were student meetings as well, during which they made posters and wrote speeches.

Tyler Liegmann, art student and activist, was involved in the main design of flyers and posters. She explains her motives and ideas behind the designs: “I wanted them to seem unprofessional and inviting, but still [have the ability to] invoke the anger and sadness behind our movement.” The group spent hours brainstorming ideas for phrases and working to make these posters as impactful as possible.

Liegmann was also one of the students who spoke in the gymnasium. The purpose of these short speeches was to give students an opportunity to speak up and connect with others over this pressing issue. Many different topics were addressed, and Liegmann’s focus was on gun control itself.

Of course, such a controversial topic is likely to get backlash, but that did not deter her from speaking. She explained, “I feel strongly about the topic, and I didn’t want to distract people from what the real problem is, like the administration wanted us to.”

Administration clearly stated their belief that, though it is important to have a voice, school was not the place to protest. Staff were required to mark participating students with tardies, absences, or point deductions. Various emails were sent out by teachers and admin, advising students to stay in class .

The group of students organizing the walkout did their best to make their peers aware of their rights and how they were protected, but could only do so much. Students were being told they would get marked tardy, miss important assignments that they could not make up, or just lose participation points in general. There was even worry about truancy tickets being given to those at the walkout. These threats were only rumors though, and many kids still decided to come out and support the cause, despite the fear of what action could be taken against them.

On the day of the walkout, students gathered after third period to prepare. Signs were distributed amongst those participating, chants were learned, and the game plan was set out. In total, the protest lasted 17 minutes, one minute dedicated to each of the fallen students at Stoneman Douglas. ASB organized a rally at lunch to go along with the protest where students were allowed to write letters to Parkland to show their support. Then, the day then resumed like any other.

Questions, however, have arisen since the day of the walkout. Some say that it was simply a way for students to get out of class. Others said that students violated the entire reason for gathering by being on their phones and taking pictures.

Alexandria Huerta Sandri, a member of the student body said, “ I can understand the view of the students who want to protest, but I feel it is not necessary for the student body to protest during school. I think if we want change we need to take the protest to the mayor’s office, where our voice really can be heard by someone who can really make a change.”

Isabella Franco, a participating student in the Quartz Hill High School protest, explained, “ I felt it was really important for me to participate in the school protest. The violence that faces students is appalling, and I feel we need to do something about it. A great way to do that is to show my support by protesting my beliefs.”

Regardless, the students that participated in the walkout were taking part in what they believed would spark a change. At the very least, hundreds to thousands of students across the nation paid a necessary homage to the fallen students of Parkland.