Cartersville Students Pay Tribute To Parkland Shooting Victims

CARTERSVILLE, GA — The Purple Hurricanes did not disappoint in their efforts to honor the students and staff members who were killed last month in the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The Cartersville High School students used the March 14 date, set aside for the ENOUGH National School Walkout memorial protests, to write letters to the families of the 17 victims who died at the hands of accused gunman Nikolas Cruz.

Seventeen empty desks were decorated with a rose, a photo, name and age of each victim and supplies for writing letters of condolences. Students quietly moved from desk to desk, writing notes to families and taking in the names of each shooting victims (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

Instead of banning protests or penalizing students who engage in similar activity, Cartersville High School Principal Marc Feuerbach previously said the school developed a plan that not only allows students to share their opinions on school safety, but also show their respects to the victims of the Parkland shooting.

"I am very proud of our students who worked with administrators to develop a plan for today that honored the victims and allowed the opportunity for voluntary expression of concerns while maintaining an environment that was safe and conducive to learning," Feuerbach said Wednesday. "I hope our students saw through this experience that respectful collaboration and valuing others can lead to finding beneficial solutions during challenging situations."

Middle and high school principals in the Bartow County School System worked with student leaders to come up with their own programs that were shared Wednesday morning over the intercom.

"Some were student-led, others were led by the principal," the system added. "They did share one commonality: touching reminders that each student lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will not be forgotten by Bartow County students."

At the Bartow County College and Career Academy, a member of the Student Board of Directors led a tribute over the intercom, followed by 17 seconds of silence. During an extended break, students were able to sign a large banner or write encouraging words to the Parkland, Florida, community.

"We are proud of our students," Bartow County Schools added. "They displayed great compassion, composure, and confidence as they articulated messages to their new Parkland family."

To the east in Cherokee County, students in that school district held similar events designed to honor the victims. In Cobb County, students who attempted a walkout to protest gun violence on Wednesday met resistance from school officials who had said they wouldn't support the demonstrations. Reports surfaced that school doors were locked and some schools experienced heavy security presence.

In Fulton County, students in several schools held protests as well as memorials to call for stricter gun laws and to pay tribute to the Parkland victims. Students in Atlanta, Douglas County as well as Decatur all took part in walkouts to show solidarity with the national efforts.

Nationally, in front of the White House, in the streets of Harlem and, most notably, at a football field in Florida, thousands of students across the country are participating in the National School Walkout memorial protests, which come a month to the day after a gunman shot and killed 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school.

Emboldened by a growing protest movement, the left their classrooms for 17 minutes — one minute to remember each person murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — beginning at 10 a.m. in their local time zones for the National Student Walkout.

Many said they are afraid to go to school after the Parkland shooting, the latest of many across the country. An 11-year-old who braved the snow in Massachusetts spoke for many. "I want us to be noticed," she said.

A student in Decatur, told Patch the protests speak to students' growing fear.

"We no longer feel safe in our schools," said the student, who helped organize the walkout, as her classmates crowded around. Some carrying signs bearing slogans like "We Love Parkland" and "Who's Next?"

You can check out Patch's live coverage across the nation by clicking here.

Patch editors Doug Gross, John Barker and Beth Dalbey contributed to this article.

Images via Bartow County Schools, Cartersville City Schools and Blake Pierson