Students at North Sanpete High will participate in National Walkout Day

By Robert Stevens

March 12, 2018

MT. PLEASANT—According to an email sent by the North Sanpete High School principal, the school’s student body officers (SBOs) have decided to participate in a walkout in two days.

Principal Nan Ault released an email to parents this afternoon saying the SBOs had made a decision to show solidarity for the students who had lost their lives in the Florida school shootings by participating in the National School Walkout, an organized solidarity movement formed by Women’s March Youth EMPOWER, a civil rights advocacy group.

According to Ault’s email release, it is not a school-sponsored activity.

“As an administrator, I wanted to give them a safe way to participate and practice their first amendment rights,” Ault wrote in her email.

The students will not miss instruction time if they choose to participate, Ault says, and she is allowing them 17 minutes to gather together on the track.

The walkout is optional says Ault.

“The SBOs have prepared a positive message about connecting with each other and want to challenge their classmates to increase humanity, put away their cell phones and have a conversation,” Ault wrote. “We talk often about taking care of each other and this is one way for them to put this into practice.”

Ault went on to say in the email that parents should have a conversation with their child about the issue of school safety and how to be part of the process for change.

“It is important for us to assure that parents are informed about what is happening in our school,” she writes.  “Thanks for helping us make a positive difference.”

The mission statement on the Women’s March website says, “The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change. Women’s March is a women-led movement providing intersectional education on a diverse range of issues and creating entry points for new grassroots activists & organizers to engage in their local communities through trainings, outreach programs and events. Women’s March is committed to dismantling systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect.”

The National School Walkout section of the Women’s March website has a list of demands. It begins, “We demand that Congress enact an immediate resolution declaring gun violence a public health crisis and dedicating federal funding to research solutions and implement violence intervention programs. We demand Congress recognize all forms of gun violence, including violence committed by police. “

The National Walkout Day website goes on to say they demand the banning of assault weapons and high capacity magazines, expanding background checks to all gun sales, and several other tighter gun control laws. They also directly oppose any legislation that would aim to fortify our schools with more guns.