Students gathered outside Sequim Middle and High schools for 17 minutes on Wednesday, March 14, mostly in support of the National School Walkout.
At the high school, about 100 students stood in-between the gym and main office at 10 a.m. promoting gun control policy with some holding signs while others sported bright orange — a color meant to send a message about gun reform, dating back to the death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who was killed in 2013 in a case of mistaken identity. CNN reported her parents picked the color orange because it is what hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others from harm, and chose it to honor the death of their daughter and call for gun reform.
There were about 10 students who opposed gun control reform, opting to stand across from those students in front of the high school holding their own signs that read, “I stand with the NRA” and “Why Gun Control Does Not Work.”
Sequim High School junior Trey Brouillard held a sign during the walkout that read “Arm Teachers with Counselors.”
“I’m usually really outspoken about things like this,” Brouillard said.
“It’s not okay for kids that have mental illnesses to get guns and teachers shouldn’t be armed. We need more resources and counselors.”
Sophomore Carson Holt came with an American Flag and a sign in support of the Nation Rifle Association.
“It was definitely a lot of pro gun control,” Holt said of the demonstration. “I didn’t want it to be an echo chamber.”
During the event, gun control supporters chanted briefly “not one more” and had a long moment of silence.
At Sequim Middle School, Sequim superintendent Gary Neal said about 120 students walked out, and someone read the names of the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla. School shooting on Feb. 14, and held a moment of silence.
Neal said there wasn’t any punitive action for students who participated.
“It followed along with the plans the buildings had,” Neal told the Gazette. “They used the 17 minutes and went back to class.”
At the march 5 Sequim School Board meeting, Neal said if students were to walk out of classes, district staff should allow it as a way to start a conversation and not have any penalties.
School Board student representatives Tea’ Gauthun and Damon Little said on March 19 that they both participated in the Walk Out and found it be a positive experience.
“It was great to begin that dialogue between the students in the school with different views and different opinions,” Little said.
“It was setup so students could walk out for what they wanted to walk out for whether it be in favor of further gun control and gun legislature or increase for mental health education.”
He said the high school’s leadership class set it up so students could personalize it to their beliefs.
“There wasn’t just one reason people participated,” Gauthun said.
The walk out occurred near the end of second period classes at the high school, at the end of second period for seventh and eighth graders, and the beginning of third period for sixth graders, school officials report.
Church rallies
A handful of community members stood with students at each school either with the crowd or on nearby sidewalks.
In support of the walkout, more than 20 parishioners with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church walked along North Fifth Avenue with signs at 10 a.m. advocating for more gun control. One parishioner held a sign with more than 70 signatures from church members who couldn’t attend the event.
At 10 a.m. church Deacon Lani Hubbard began ringing the bell 17 times while Sherry Niermann read a prayer for each of the victims in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Another church Deacon, Diane Moore, said she was on a pastoral call at Swedish Medical Center in Denver when victims began coming in after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.
“Every time there is a shooting, it beings you back to that day,” she said.
Moore said she and other parishioners were proud to support the students at the walkout down the block.
“We want the community to know that we care and that we’re there with them,” she said.
“Kids speaking for themselves is really important. It’s part of a groundswell of people saying we need change. Out kids are too important to be slaughtered.”
“One of the most powerful verses in the Bible is “Jesus wept,” Moore said. “Jesus would be weeping about this.”
A group of about 10 Sequim High School students opposed those advocating for more gun control and stood across from the large group standing in front of the high school. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins
Sequim resident Sally Franz talks with Sequim High School sophomore Carson Holt at a gun control demonstration on March 14.
Astrid Martin (in back) and Payton Sturm holds signs at a student demonstration about gun control on March 14. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
More than 20 parishioners of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church stand along North Fifth Avenue on March 14 advocating for stricter gun laws. Church Deacon Diane Moore said more than 70 people from the church who could not be in attendance signed a billboard in support of The National School Walkout too. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Deacon Lani Hubbard, left, with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church rings the church’s bell on March 14 one time for each victim of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting on Feb. 14, while Sherry Niermann reads the victims’ names and says a prayer for each one.
