Moving ceremonies mark day at Academy Park and Ridley
Students at Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill held an assembly last Friday to talk about and plan the walkout on March 14. Michele McGlynn, supervisor of special education for Southeast Delco School District, and Jaime Smyth, assistant principal of Academy Park High School, worked together with students to provide a structured and well-organized platform for students to express their feelings, protest current gun laws and give input on how to keep the event meaningful and positive. Participation in the studentrun event was strictly optional and students who preferred not to participate stayed inside of the building.
“I decided to participate in the walkout, not only to honor those who lost their lives in Florida,” stated senior Melvin Islam of Folcroft, “but also to honor and remember my own friends who have lost their lives through violence.”
According to school administrators, Academy Park students were divided into two groups for the 17 minute walkout. Students in grades 11 and 12 began their walkout at 9:20 a.m.; grades 9 and 10 began theirs at 9:40. Students began the walkout with a short assembly in the auditorium, where students read poetry, showed short videos made in the aftermath of the shootings and shared feelings before filing out to the athletic field, located next to Sharon Hill Elementary School. There, students signed a banner and placed a huge #ENOUGH hashtag on the chain link fence and then tied ribbons around the word which has become the national hashtag for the walkout activities across the nation. The ribbons were signed by students who also wrote messages, including some of the things they would do for the rest of the day in remembrance of the victims. After the ribbon signing, students were allotted time to talk about their feelings in small groups or to walk the track and do the same, until the 17 minutes were up and they returned peacefully to their classes. The signed banner will be hung inside of the school.
In a show of unity, students at Academy Park, where the school colors are silver and blue, were encouraged to wear silver to the walkout, the color that they had in common with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the school colors are maroon and silver.
Ridley High School students held a unique 17 minutes of silence. At the Ridley High School inside gathering, students had a “green out,” all wearing the Raiders’ signature color. Only 15 students and two teachers wore white so that they would stand out of the crowd. For 17 minutes, a chime tolled each minute. One person in white per minute would stand to be acknowledged with a moment in silence to signify one of the 17 victims of the Florida school shootings. As each person stood to be acknowledged, some of the students responded by standing in honor. By the time the seventeenth person in white stood, almost the entire audience was also standing in support. Following the 17 moments of silence, student leaders delivered prepared speeches about the impact that school violence has had on the students in the Ridley School District and the community.
“It was fitting that today’s event coincides with Public Schools Week,” Schools Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel stated. “Our students showed their understanding of what makes public schools an important part of our democracy. The student-organized program reflected a remembrance for those lives lost and a need to raise awareness. It was a great day for student voice.”
The event was closed off to parents and press and was mostly for and about students, she said.