Community Corner
School Walkouts Planned Friday On Columbine's 19th Anniversary
Dozens of Houston-area schools will stage walkouts on Friday to observe the 19th anniversary of the Columbine massacre to honor the victims
THE WOODLANDS, TX — On April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris walked into Columbine High School and shot 13 people before killing themselves inside the school.
The actions of Klebold and Harris not only etched their names into the American fabric associated with school shootings, but ignited a rash of school shootings that have spanned nearly two decades and sparked gun debates on Capitol Hill.
On Friday, students and staff at The Woodlands High School will join with other campuses nationwide in an all day walkout that will begin at 10 a.m. to protest gun violence in the schools, and in remembrance of those killed by school shootings.
Find out what's happening in The Woodlandsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Other Houston area schools taking part in Friday’s walkout include:
- Eastwood Academy
- Lanier High School
- Lamar High School
- Reagan High School
- Garden Oaks Middle School
- School of the Woods
- Bellaire High School
- Galena Park High School
- YES Prep White Oak
- Young Women’s College Prep
- Klein Oak High School
- Cy-Woods High School
- Cy-Creek High School
- Oak Ridge High School
- Bridgeland High School
- Cy-Falls High School
- Cy-Fair High School
- Klein Forest High School
- Nimitz High School
- Humble High School
- MacArthur High School
- Ridgepoint High School
- Elkins High School
- Stephen F. Austin High School
- O’Donnell Middle School
- Harmony School of Excellence
- William P. Clements High School
- I.H. Kempner High School
- Strake Jesuit College Prep
- Westbury Christian High School
- Channelview High School
- Clear Lake High School
- KIPP Academy Sunnyside
- Pearland High School
- Clear View High School
- Glenda Dawson High School
- Katy High School
- Paetow High School
- William B. Travis High School (Apr 19 and 20)
- Cinco Ranch High School
- Seven Lakes High School
- Mayde Creek High School
- Lamar Consolidated High School
- Foster High School
A protest is also planned at Houston City Hall at 10 a.m.
Find out what's happening in The Woodlandsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The protests, which appear to be student-led, took shape after Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, went into the school, pulled the fire alarm, and started shooting students and teachers.
When it was all over, Cruz had killed 17 people.
RELATED: Houston March For Our Lives Draws Thousands Demanding Change
The shooting sparked protests in Washington, DC, and a planned walkout on school campuses for 17 minutes nationwide, 30 days after the shooting.
Ten days after the walkout, protests and marches erupted nationwide, with one of the largest in Houston’s Tranquility Park, across the street from Houston City Hall, which drew about 15,000 marchers.
“If we hadn’t been on Spring Break during the walkout, we’d have participated with the rest of the country,” one Cy-Fair ISD student who didn’t want her name used, said.
The walkout planned for Friday is not designed to promote any political agenda, but is merely done as a remembrance to students and teachers lost to school shootings, and encouraging students to speak up for school safety, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Click this link and type in your community to see if your school plans to participate.
Image: Bryan Kirk/Patch: Protesters in Houston's Tranquility Park take part in the March For Our Lives demonstration on March 24. Dozens of similar protests were held nationwide.
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