Two weeks ago, on February, 14, 2018, a tragedy rocked the small community of Parkland, Florida after a former student, Nikolas Cruz, killed seventeen at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In the aftermath of the shooting, widespread debate has been sparked regarding accessibility of firearms and safety in schools.

Students across the country are demonstrating that the power doesn’t solely lie with American policymakers. Many are exercising their first amendment right to participate in a National School Walkout Day slated for March 14.

The walkout, organized by the Women’s March Youth EMPOWER, will take place at 10:00 a.m. Students participating will walk out for seventeen minutes, in honor of each life lost in Parkland.

The school administration will be treating March 14 as a regular instructional day.

“If a student were to get up and walk out, it wouldn’t be an insubordination, or any extra suspensions, but it would [count against] either be a tardy if it’s truly seventeen minutes, or it would be an absence if it’s longer than that.” said Mr. Albertson. “We’re not changing policies at all, we’re just going to follow the same school policy. We do have a duty that we want to make sure it’s a safe environment. If a student chooses to [walk out] we want to make sure that they’re doing it in a safe, peaceful way, and that it’s not disrupting the education of other students.”