A somber Houston event puts politics and guns aside.
500 students at Jewish school honor massacre victims
Ryan Bronston was careful to exclude politics from a 17minute-long memorial service he and several other students from the Emergy/Weiner School in southwest Houston planned for Wednesday.
As about 500 students gathered at the private school’s stadium during an assembly period, Bronston and his classmates read the names and biographies of the 17 students and staff members who were killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. They prayed the Kaddish, a traditional Jewish mourning prayer. No one mentioned guns or gun control.
That didn’t prevent a torrent of hateful online comments from people tying the goals of the Emergy/Weiner assembly to student protests taking place across the country Wednesday, the vast majority of which advocated for stricter gun laws in the wake of Florida’s recent school massacre.
Almost every Houston-area school was closed for spring break, causing news outlets to focus on what appeared to be the only local student-organized event to mark the Parkland shooting.
“Our event was different than other events,” Bronston, 18, said. “The backlash really speaks to the political climate right now, where everything is very fractured and polarized.”
Tavia Lee-Goldstein, associate director of communications for the school, said students did not miss class because the protest was held at a time typically reserved for assemblies and student meetings.
In other parts of the country, students staged walkouts to demand action after last month’s shooting rampage in Florida. A 19-year-old former student of the high school, Ni-
“Here we have students taking out a position on an issue that affects their lives.” Stuart Dow, school head
kolas Cruz, has been charged with 34 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder.
Some marched at city halls and state capitols, while others stood silently on their campuses to remember the victims. The protests have engaged students in the political debate surrounding gun rights, while also forcing district leaders to plan for potential disruptions during the school day.
Despite the relative quiet in the Houston area on Wednesday, dozens more events are scheduled for the coming weeks.
Organizers are expecting large crowds for the March For Our Lives on March 24 at downtown Houston's Tranquility Park. As part of a national effort, students from across the region are planning the march, with assistance from teachers and parents.
At least 38 walkout style protests are scheduled for Friday, April 20 from Galveston to The Woodlands, according to the National Student Walkout website. The date marks the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, which resulted in 13 deaths.
Stuart Dow, head of school at Emergy/Weiner, said he and other teachers were moved by their students’ gathering. He also insisted Wednesday’s event was apolitical but acknowledged that some students plan to travel to Washington on March 24 to participate in national protests against gun violence in schools. Two donors, Livingston and Saranne Cosberg, gave enough money to send 30 of his students to the nation’s capital.
“Student-led activism is just powerful in an age where we’re worried kids are spending too much of their time playing video games or sitting in front of computers,” Dow said. “Here we have students taking out a position on an issue that affects their lives.”