“I honestly wasn’t sure how to feel at first because I wasn’t sure how many people would be doing it,” said junior Sophia Hauer, who attended the walkout on Thursday. “But then when I saw everybody out here, and a bunch of teachers, and just the support that everybody had, it was honestly super inspiring.”

Freshman Lily Walker, pictured above, was one of several students wearing an orange paper crown during the walkout on Thursday. “I knew that a lot of people weren’t going to have anything that shows what we stand for,” said junior Cassie Ramirez, who created the crowns with junior Sid Lefranc in La Salle’s Maker Space the same morning. “I just wanted to … show the other students that enough is enough. We’ve got to protect every student now because it’s happening so frequently.”

Both of freshman Bailey Fronk’s parents are teachers, “and it took a big toll on them to hear about all the losses,” she said. “They were grieving yesterday, and I felt like I should pay my respects as well.”

“I would hate to have to imagine that at our school or anything,” said freshman Mateo Madrigal, who attended the walkout on Thursday. “That’s scary. And I feel like it’s very respectful to go out there and have a moment of silence.”

“I think that, you know, there’s no amount of thoughts, prayers, and vigils that’s going to prevent these things from happening again,” said senior Soleia Flores, who attended the walkout on Thursday. “But I do think that as a community, coming together and acknowledging that this isn’t okay, it puts everyone on the same track so that everyone knows where we need to go from here.”

“I was devastated, because it’s just something that has happened so many times,” said sophomore Ezra Moody, who attended the walkout on Thursday.

“I was pretty shocked, especially at an elementary school,” said freshman Sayre Albert, who attended the walkout on Thursday after reading about the school shooting at Robb Elementary School online. “I just kind of wanted to show my support to the community and to the families that suffered this loss.”