Some Vermilion County students are winning praise for the way they conducted demonstrations Wednesday honoring 17 people who died in a mass Florida shooting last month. Oakwood Unit 76 Superintendent Gary Lewis says about 40 students at Oakwood High School walked out of classes and paused for 17 minutes honoring the victims.
At Danville High School hundreds of students poured out of the building – many of them wearing orange in remembrance of those killed. Many of their shirts contained messages calling for the shootings to stop.
In Westville, Superintendent Seth Miller said small groups of students held peaceful demonstrations at both Westville High School and Junior High. They assembled in circles and remained silent for 17 minutes.
‘’At Westville School District, we understand that our students may be feeling lots of anxiety, fear and even anger about violence in schools,’’ said Superintendent Miller. ‘’We respect the right of our students to advocate for causes that are important to them and support their efforts to do so in an authorized and orderly manner while in school. We thank our students for the way they conducted themselves today while allowing their civic voices to be heard,’’ added a statement issued by the Westville Unit 2 School District.
[The photo shows the back of a shirt worn by a Danville High School student during Wednesday’s demonstration.]
