MILWAUKEE – Highland Community School will be participating in the National School Walkout on Wednesday, March 14th at 10 am. We will show our support for the lives lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as well as the survivors, and their families. We demand lawmakers find solutions to the rampant gun violence plaguing the United States.
Highland Community School’s Bill of Rights guarantees students the right to physical safety, the right to emotional safety, and the right to work in peace. In keeping with these principles, our 4th – 8th graders and staff will be demonstrating with 17 minutes of silence.
Dr. Mark Joerres, Highland’s Executive Director, said, “Our students, staff, and parents in conjunction with hundreds of thousands of people across the country are calling for a concerted effort to stop this madness and figure out how to respond in a way that honors everyone’s right to physical and emotional safety. The National School Walkout is an opportunity for our students to use their voices or, in this case, their silence, to demand change on an issue that impacts us all. It is a teachable moment of empowerment. Our students have opinions that must be heard, and they demand a response to this national epidemic of violence.”
The whole Highland Community is getting involved. Parents and family members are encouraged to participate in many ways including joining our students, teachers, and staff on campus during the 17-minutes of silence, coordinating a walkout at their workplace, and participating in a letter-writing campaign to demand that our legislature acts to ensure the safety of children and staff going forward.
As a diverse community, Highland recognizes that there will be many different viewpoints on this issue. Students have been given the option not to participate. Highland students will continue to have the opportunity to process their emotions and any opposing views while establishing their own sets of solutions, values, and ethics on this and many other issues.
Highland Community School is a parent-directed, Montessori public charter school founded in 1968. Highland offers Montessori programs for ages 14 months through 8th grade, including before- and after-school care, extra-curricular recreational programs, and summer camps. Each day, 438 children from a range of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds come together to embrace our founding principles of social justice, diversity, and community building.
National School Walkout
Wednesday, March 14, 2017, 10:00 – 10:17 am
Highland Community School
1706 W. Highland Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
Michaela Lewellyn Humpal
Director of Community Resources
Visit: www.highlandcommunityschool.org for more information about Highland Community School.