About 125 Southern Boone High School students joined a national movement this morning when they walked out of class and gathered on the south side of the high school for a few minutes of remembrance.

The event, organized with the help of faculty and administrators, was to remember the 17 students/faculty members who were murdered at a Parkland, Florida high school on Feb. 14.

Eight SoBoCo seniors took turns reading the names and a sentence or two about that person and then held a short moment of silence for each individual.
The assembly lasted about 20 minutes and was supervised by principal Dale Van Deven, assistant principal David Shire, assistant superintendent Dr. Tim Roth, activities director Pat Lacy and multiple faculty members. Also, three Ashland police officers and the school resource officer were close by.

Concerns have arisen across the country for such walkouts as some have said the students would be making “targets” of themselves. Others have taken the walkouts as a form of protests as the political battle over weapons – the Parkland shooter utilized an AR-15 with large-capacity magazines – and how to solve the problem of school shootings.

However, at Southern Boone students simply gathered and remembered on a chilly spring morning. Many stood with an arm around each a friend’s shoulder, others stood by and blinked back tears. Few, if any appeared to be there just to get out of class for a few minutes.

“I think you handled this very well,” Van Deven told the eight seniors afterwards. “It was a nice moment of reflection and I think it meant a lot to your classmates.”