Students Organize Gathering for School Shooting Victims
April 11, 2018
Schools around the country held 17 minute walkouts to show support for the 17 victims killed in the Parkland school shooting three weeks ago on March 14.
Politically engaged students at Susquehannock High School organized a similar gathering, a tremendous feat given the students didn’t receive help from staff, and the turnout was greater than expected.
Seniors Michael Torbert, Emily Loehmer, Synye Carter and Danielle Griffin were four of the students who took the reins in organizing the event.
The idea for the ceremony came from other schools organizing similar events with the influence of social media.
“The idea came from the influence of the internet and everything going on, people who were planning demonstrations across the country in memory of the 17 victims of the February 14 shooting. So we took the idea, and we met with two other students,” said Loehmer. “We were talking to them, and we wanted to do a ‘walkout’ kind of thing, but we didn’t want to do one where we actually left the school, because […] we actually wanted to speak to the student body who was going to participate and talk about voting, and registering to vote, and everything like that.”
Next, Loehmer, Carter and Griffin brought their idea to Principal Dr. Kevin Molin.
“I met with Synye Carter and Danielle Griffin, and us three went to the office to talk to Dr. Molin. If we wanted to recruit people to join us, we wanted to assure them they would not face penalties. In that process we teamed up with Michael Torbert, and he came with more force, so we sat down with Dr. Molin and said, ‘this is what we want to do.’ He couldn’t take any political stance, obviously, as a public school official, so we took things into our own hands,” said Loehmer.
Carter thought that Torbert’s speech captured the essence of the movement.
“[Michael wanted] to write a speech, and talk about the importance of voting, and getting our voices heard, and how to do it. He finished at like, 2 AM, and then he sent it to u,s and it was absolutely amazing. I felt like he hit every important part of what’s going on in this movement,” said Carter.
When writing the speech, Torbert wanted to focus on the general message of creating change.
“I tried to push the message of not gun control or a certain issue, but, overall, just us as young people taking the reins of our republic and creating government that we want to see. So a lot of that just comes from my passion about wanting young people to participate in government. But a lot of the specific things I said I pulled from other speeches I wrote or just thought about. It took me about three straight days to write it. It was a lot of personal reflection on what I want to see and what’s going on in the news,” said Torbert.
Loehmer added that they wanted to convey as much of a message as possible in the 17 minutes.
“We wanted to really utilize the 17 minutes and not just sit there and not just honor the victims but say that we are going to prevent this from happening time and time again. We want to be the start of change. And by doing so you have to register to vote, you have to have your voices heard, your elected officials have to listen to you if you make it so,” said Loehmer.
Torbert believes that his message of fighting for change in the government resonated with all who came to the walkout.
“I definitely think [I got across the message I wanted to convey.] Personally, I have friends who are on the opposite end of the political spectrum from me, and they came to the walkout and the message I was trying to get across resonated with them, so I think I really accomplished my goal of reaching across party lines and just encouraging overall youth participation in government,” said Torbert.
Carter has also seen the positive effects the walkout has had on students.
“I’ve had a couple students come up to me after the walkout, and they’re happy that now they feel their voices can be heard. They say, ‘Well I’ve always thought about this, but I didn’t know how I could get my voice heard, thank you for telling me I can,’” said Carter.
She has also had students trying to continue the movement and asking her for advice. “There have been students who have come up to me looking for advice because they’re trying to get certain programs through the school, maybe more awareness of diversity in the school, and that’s sophomores and juniors, so the fact that a movement is starting to have a great impact is very important,” said Carter.
Loehmer was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and how many people responded to their ideas.
“On that Wednesday, I was so surprised with how many students came. We’re not kidding ourselves, we know the area we’re from, we know the political climate here. And so I expected maybe 40 people, and then a 100 plus walked into the auditorium and I thought, ‘This is insane!’ And maybe some of them were there for the wrong reasons, but who cares, they still had to listen to a 17 minute speech,” said Loehmer.
Loehmer thinks that it changed the dynamic of the student body.
“I think it woke up everyone in the student body who does care about these issues and who do feel strongly about these issues, and they’re not alone. There is a front in this school that can unite together and actually bring change by inspiring the people who will still be here,” said Loehmer.
