Dallas Students Plan Walkout On Columbine's 19th Anniversary

DALLAS, TX — Many students who attended public schools in the last 19 years remember Rachel's Challenge, a program aimed at reducing gun violence in schools. The program was created in light of the 1999 Columbine shooting that left 13 high school students and staff members dead and named for Rachel Scott, a 17-year-old girl killed in the shooting.

But students who attend public schools in 2018 know gun violence is much more than a distant memory kept alive through the efforts of Rachel's Challenge.

With deadly shootings seemingly occurring ever-more often, students who fear the the heavy hand of gun violence are stepping up and demanding change.

On April 20, 2018, students from 10 Dallas-area schools will leave their classrooms to draw attention to the far-reaching impact of gun violence.

Dallas-Area Schools Planning Walkouts:

• Booker. T Washington HSPVA
• Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center
• J L Long Middle School
• Highland Park High School
• University of North Texas Dallas
• Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy
• Ranchview Highschool
• Garland High School
• Woodrow Wilson HS
• Lake Highlands North Park

The largely student-led protests took shape after an armed gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and shot 17 students and staff members to death.

Related: Protesters 'March For Our Lives' In North Texas

The shooting sparked protests in Washington, DC, and across the nation as students staged walkouts lasting 17 minutes, even as students injured in the Florida shooting were still recovering in hospitals.

Click this link and type in your community to see if your school plans to participate.

Image via Shutterstock/bakdc
Patch reporter Bryan Kirk contributed to this report