An Olympic Heights student walk-out that was sparked by last Wednesday’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Broward County – just 11 miles from the OH campus –  organized to protest the rising number of school shootings nationwide and a seemingly unresponsive government went off peacefully and without incident this morning at 9:30 a.m.

Students started to gather in the front of the school around the flag poles – with their flags at half-mast in honor of the 14 students and three faculty members killed at Stoneman-Douglas – at the end of the first class block of the day. Hundreds of students joined the demonstration with some holding signs and chanting “Keep us safe!” and “No more guns!” The demonstration lasted just under 30 minutes before students were encouraged by administration and faculty to return to their classes.

News of the planned protest started to spread over various social media platforms over the weekend.  OH administration became aware of the planned demonstration and took no steps to prevent it but rather sought to make sure the students were able to have their voices heard with minimal disruption to the school day.

In an early morning email to teachers, OH principal Dave Clark wrote, “The kids are understandably upset over the horrible events of this past week.  Please be understanding of their feelings and help them through this the best that you can.”

In addition to school district officials and an increased law enforcement presence, those teachers who had planning periods during the demonstration time were on hand to insure the demonstration went off without incident.

There will be a second gathering of OH students right after school this afternoon at South County Park with the intent to form a letter-writing campaign to members of the U.S. Congress urging action be taken to curtail mass shootings such as the one at Stoneman-Douglas last week.