V.S. students walk out for Parkland

Students at all four Valley Stream Central High School District buildings walked out of class on March 14 as part of the National School Walkout to remember the 17 victims of the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., a month ago and to call for stricter gun controls.
At Memorial Junior High School, students walked out and hung up signs that read “Enough.” One of the signs also displayed the names of the victims surrounded by orange ribbons. “Beyond proud of our Memorial students!” Chrissy O’Toole, a Memorial Junior High parent, wrote on Facebook. “You give us hope for the future! Thank you for helping to make the world a better place.”
At North High School, more than 300 students left the school to take part in the walkout. Those who did not wish to leave class listened to the public announcement system as the names of the 17 victims were read, according to walkout organizer Nithin Seelan, a senior at North. The students who took part in the walkout made posters and ribbons for the event, and observed a moment of silence. Students also read the names of the victims, and then Seelan spoke about gun control.
“We’re here to start a movement, make a change,” Seelan said.
Planning for the walkout began a week after the Feb. 14 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High. “I brought it to the principal, and he was supportive,” Seelan said. Since then, he said, he has been making posters and ribbons to advertise the walkout.

“I think the way our students at North handled it was superb,” said Principal David Trizano. “I think they really showed the type of students they are, which is simply exemplary.”
At Central High School, a memorial service turned into a peaceful protest, according to sophomore Miguel Alberca. “They started chanting, ‘Enough is Enough,” Alberca said of the more than 50 students who joined in.
The students held up signs, spoke and memorialized the students who were lost at Stoneman Douglas. They also had the names of the 17 victims written on balloons that they released one by one as they recited the victims’ names.
Alberca said that the students decided to participate in the walkout because they were “fed up with how easy it was for [Nikolas Cruz] to obtain a gun and do what he did.”
“What we’re trying to say and protest is, we want tighter gun show restrictions,” Alberca said.
At South High School, junior Wayne Chen organized a last-minute walkout. “We lacked leadership overall for this,” he said. So the night before, Chen went to Staples and bought 300 posters, which he handed out in school before classes began. His efforts paid off, he said, because more than 100 students walked out. 
“I was blown away by the support that we got,” he said.
As a follow-up to last week’s walkout, Long Beach is expected to host a rally on Saturday in solidarity with students around the country.
Organized by Board of Education trustee Darlene Tangney, former City Councilwoman Fran Adelson and Long Beach High School junior class President Fiona Eramo, the event is to take place from 2 to 4 p.m. in Kennedy Plaza, at 1 W. Chester St. outside City Hall.
“I feel that the rest of us need to stand up behind the students and support them, because I truly believe they are going to be the ones to make the change for stricter gun-control laws,” Adelson said.
In addition, Long Islanders and elected leaders — including U.S. Representatives Peter King and Tom Suozzi — are expected to flood the campus of SUNY Farmingdale on Saturday to support the same message. The march is set to take place at the Nold Athletic Complex at the college, at 2350 Broadhollow Road in Farmingdale, at 11 a.m.
The two local rallies are to take place in tandem with the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., where thousands of people are expected to gather and advocate for stricter gun-control legislation.