‘The students in Florida have just really lit a flame,’ RTM super says
There was a solemnity to the student walkout program at Penncrest High School Wednesday that Rose Tree Media School District Superintendent James Wigo said he did not think would be possible in a football stadium.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud to be a superintendent of a particular district – and this district – as I was today watching our students as they planned and organized and executed a very solemn and a very heartfelt and very respectful and, I think, a very effective program,” said Wigo, who was also present for the walkout. “The students in Florida have just really lit a flame in our kids that I don’t know that they’ve ever felt before in terms of a particular social issue.”
Jason Boyer, a 17-year-old junior who participated in a memorial program Wednesday, said it was an uplifting but emotional event. He described it as harmonious, a chance for everyone to put aside their differences and come together to make a meaningful statement.
“It had a great message but it was obviously also sad because of the incident in Parkland,” said Boyer. “The student body was very involved, they were attentive, they were excited to work on the walkout together to make sure it was safe for the whole school, and that it would be an experience that was memorable and had an impact on everybody.”
Wigo said there were a number of active participants in the program giving opening remarks and reading the names of each of the 17 Florida victims aloud, followed by a period of silence and concluding statements urging students to participate in other activities for nationwide involvement, including a “March for Our Lives” gun control rally set for March 24 in Washington D.C.
Boyer said he plans to attend that march and continue working with the Media Fellowship House Youth Coalition in addressing issues facing young people locally.
“I look to involve our youth group that I’ve helped create in a lot of these issues because I think it’s very important that we have as many young voices as possible to help push the movement along and help make sure that no one is forgotten, and that it keeps going until change is reached.”
“They want very much to voice their opinion in a much more adult fashion,” said Wigo. “By way of this particular day and the organizers, they are encouraging students who will be turning 18 to register to vote and they are also encouraging those students to remember this as a national issue when they do vote.”
Boyer, who turns 18 in October, said he was not aware of the influence lobbyists can exert on politics until now and it has changed his perspective on how he sees the Congressional midterm elections.
“I think they truly feel as though they are part of a national movement to have their voices heard along with tens of thousands of other students,” said Wigo. “It has given them a lynchpin around which they can coalesce, around which they can speak in a common voice of concern. I really believe that they believe their voices will be heard and that there may be changes in terms of the way school safety is handled.”