More than 250 Germantown High School students listened to speeches about mental health and school safety during an assembly that mostly steered clear of politics.
More than 250 Germantown High School students listened to speeches Wednesday, March 14, about mental health and school safety during an assembly that mostly steered clear of politics.
No students walked out of the high school in protest, according to Principal Joel Farren, who said students and school officials worked together to plan the assembly in the high school gym. The event which coincided with students nationwide walking out of class to honor the 17 victims of the school shooting last month in Parkland, Florida, and to protest gun violence.
The assembly featured students speaking about mental health and the need for students to be aware of signs a student may become violent. A mental health expert and a captain from the Germantown Police Department also spoke.
Germantown High School senior Gavin Rangel opened the assembly by telling the student audience that the main purpose of the assembly was to honor victims of school shootings, but he also encouraged students to demand change.
Capt. Mike Snow of the Germantown Police Department said students might notice more officers around school because the department is dedicated to keeping it safe. But, he said, school safety requires the effort of students, staff and faculty as well as police.
Snow said the school has undertaken ALICE training, a lockdown procedure that stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. He said the training is important because school shootings often end before first responders arrive.
“Oftentimes by the time we get to these scenarios, it's done," he said. "And that's why it's a collaborative effort. That's why the ALICE training is so important.
“We're not going to be easy targets,” Snow said.
Unlike the Germantown High School event, which was organized by students and staff, many walkouts across the nation were completely student-run. Arianna Neal, a senior who helped organize the Germantown event, said the original plan called for students to walk out, but those plans were nixed once students talked with the administration.
Neal described Germantown as "very conservative" and said organizers wanted to bring people together with an assembly instead of dividing them by walking out.
“We felt like we were more unified when usually it's red and blue here. We're very separate in Germantown. It was great to come together,” she said.
“We want change; we want to make sure this (school shootings) never happens again,” Neal added.
A handful of parents called the school concerned about the event, but none said they did not want their children attending the voluntary event, according to Farren.
Some parents asked why students were registering others to vote and what would be included in letters sent to state and U.S. representatives at the assembly.
Students were free to write letters to state and federal senators and representatives with whatever message they chose. Students also could choose to write letters to the family members of those killed at Stoneman Douglas High School.
About 250 of the school's 1,400 students attended the event, about 18 percent of the school population. Students had to sign up to attend the event, and they were free to stay in class if they chose, Farren said.
Rangel said social media helped turn anger at school shootings into a national movement.
He posted a poll on his Instagram account after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting asking students whether they would participate in the March 14 assembly and almost instantaneously saw the assembly begin to take shape.
Rangel's organizing went beyond his circle of friends in Germantown, he said.