Students Prepare for Upcoming School-wide Protest

On Friday, April 20, Lakeview will be hosting a school-wide sit in and silent protest to stand up for gun control laws in America. It will be held during B6 from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

“To me, this protest is an amazing chance to stand up for what I believe in,” junior Anne Kalinowsky said. “It’s pretty rare that I get an opportunity to plan a mass protest, at my school of all places, and I plan to take advantage of that opportunity.”

Students must report to their second period to be counted present before walking out. This step is imperative to making sure no one is counted absent mistakenly and that people don’t just skip class. At 9:15 a.m., students will be allowed to leave.

“I want the students to know that the protest is happening,” junior Madison Wester said. “It is a chance for students to raise their voices and speak their minds. It’s important that the kids know that the protest is organized by students and supported by the teachers.”

Within the hour and 15 minutes of the protest, there will be a session of students writing letters to legislation about gun control, interviewing each other, making signs and simply speaking their mind.

“The school is hosting the protest because we want to give students an outlet for their voices to be heard,” Kalinowsky said. “We want it to be done in the safest way possible.”

At 10 a.m., there will be 17 minutes of silence to honor of the 17 victims of the recent Parkland shooting as well as in remembrance of the lives lost at the Columbine shooting (Friday will be the nineteenth anniversary of the tragedy).

“It means the world to me to see Lakeview support the cause for gun control,” junior Oscar Silva said. “It almost brings me to tears to see Lakeview live up to its expectations, and to see it live up towards the environment Lakeview represents in our district.”

Kalinowsky and Wester are doing a majority of the planning for the protest – alongside English teacher Jason Carney. Principal Maresa Bailey helped set up a safety committee to contribute the effort for the protest.

“Mrs. Bailey has been a huge help to us,” Kalinowsky said. “She’s even gone out of her way to buy us supplies from her own money.”

Students can wear orange in support of gun safety and regulation. It is not mandatory to participate in any part of this event, but all students are welcome to join the protest.

“I hope the protest is impactful and meaningful to other students,” Wester said. “I want [my fellow students] to be able to look back on their life and be able to say ‘my school gave us the chance to make a change in the world.’”