ASHLAND – Dozens of Ashland High School students walked out of their classes Wednesday morning, taking part in a nationwide protest calling for action against gun violence.
Wednesday marked one month since a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida. As a result, students all over the country took part in 17-minute walkouts starting at 10 a.m.
Approximately 100 Ashland High students gathered in the lobby, where student organizers read the names of the 17 victims.
The students did not walk out of the building, and principal Mike Riley said he would not permit members of the media to enter the building to cover the protest.
“The message to the students has been that there’s no supported protest here and in that case we’d rather not have you in the building,” he said.
An Ashland Times-Gazette photographer who was in the building for another event captured footage of the protest that appeared to show about 100 students encircling the lobby.
One student, senior Zane Michael, sat at the foot of the flag pole in front of the building and quietly meditated as his classmates protested inside.
A College Credit Plus student, Michael takes most of his classes at Ashland University, but came to the high school to show his support for the walkout.
“There are some things that are more important than our classwork because it’s important for people to be able to feel safe in their own schools,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll actually be able to tell Congress that we want to have sweeping gun control and sweeping gun legislation.”
Event organizers opted not to grant interviews, saying they wanted to show school administration they were taking part in the movement for the right reason and not for the media attention.
