PARKLAND, Fla. — Exactly one month after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors of the massacre will join tens of thousands of students across the U.S. and walk out of class Wednesday.
The 10 a.m. protest will last 17 minutes and aims to highlight “Congress’ inaction against the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods,” according to organizers.
In Parkland, students, teachers and administrators will spill out onto the football field, while some students plan to walk out to a nearby park for a rally.
Organized by the Women’s March, an estimated 185,000 people in 50 states are expected to join the walkout.
Alexandra Anglade, a 16-year-old junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who plans to participate, said she feels moved knowing that people across the country are showing their support for Parkland.
“It means a lot to me to know people are willing to help out. It’s amazing to see schools in California and New York stand with us and do the same thing,” Anglade said.
Some students said they felt anxious about the walkout.
“I’m a little bit nervous because a lot of us are going to be out in the open,” 18-year-old senior Justin Hing said. “Someone, a crazy guy could do a drive by but at the same time I’m glad they’re doing it because it’s a good way to raise awareness.”
In the days leading up to the walkout, the school has become synonymous with strength in Parkland. Cars heading past the school are adorned with black ribbon magnets or red hearts and the words “#MSDStrong.”
A growing memorial lines nearly all of the edge of the Stoneman Douglas campus, with pinwheels whirling in front of mountains of Publix flowers and pictures of the 17 people killed last month.
Scott Horowitz, 57, of Boca Raton, came to visit with his daughter, Jessica, on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s almost like a cemetery here,” he said.
Sharri Cagle, executive director of Keys to Kindness, a non-profit seeking to spread kind acts, drove down from Tampa on Monday to place birdhouses on the memorial.
“It was important,” Cagle said of her decision to make the 230-mile trip, wiping a tear from behind her glasses as she spoke. “I felt like I want to do something to help. It was a way to give back.”
Grace Pinzon, who has lived in Parkland for the last 25 years, brought her son and his friend, who were home for spring break, to the memorial.
“My oldest said if this had happened 10 years ago he would have had a lot of friends who would have been affected by this,” the 57-year-old Pinzon said.
Her 22-year-old son Alex Pinzon, a senior at American University in Washington, D.C., said he hopes to attend the “March for Our Lives” on March 24 in the capital. It is being organized by the Stoneman Douglas students.
Alex Pinzon said he’s inspired by how vocal the Parkland survivors have been and said if they’re able to bring about change to Washington, he will be even more proud.
“If Parkland is the city remembered for being the one to bring about change on gun laws, I’ll be proud as I can be to be from here,” he said.