Cotter students participates in 17 minute “walk with”

Fatima Mota, staff writer|March 20, 2018

At 10:00 am, on Wednesday, March 14, some Cotter students, faculty and staff walked out of school and prayed for the 17 victims that were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on February 14.

Student leaders Coy Pederson, Claire Nichols, Miriam Ellis, Ben Matzke, Vivienne Warner, and Daniel Wuxihong leader the prayer service.

The purpose of the walk out nationwide was to promote gun control, to bring awardees of gun violence, and most important, to ensure that schools are places where students can feel safe.

Cotter called the event a “walk with”,  as students were not protesting a school policy, but showing support for the Florida victims.

To express solidarity to the victims of the shooting, Cotter  participated in the Walk Out. Cotter students, faculty, and staff gathered on the steps of the chapel, were led in prayers for the victims, stood in silence for 5 minutes and heard a short poem composed by a student from Stoneman Douglas.

Students gather outside the Chapel of the Angels for the 17 minute walk-out prayer service.

The walkout was directed by Mrs. Corcoran’s campus ministry class.

One of the leaders of the event was senior Miriam Ellis.
 
“My role in the event was a representative from Student Council who was one of the student leaders of the event,” Ellis said.
“My campus ministry class helped plan the event. They were so much help and I don’t think it would have went as smoothly if they didn’t help me out.”

“Teachers came up to me and said they thought it was really formal and nice, which is what we were going for. We wanted to concentrate on it as a memorial for students who had lost their lives in the shooting as well as past shootings, we did not want it to be political because we wanted as many people as possible to come out to honor the students.”

“Overall I am really happy with how it turned out, and I am glad Cotter was apart of the national movement and walkout,”  Ellis added.

Students from Roger Bacon attend the prayer service
 Danier Wuxihong, who is also a member of the campus ministry class, also participated in the service.

“I was the reader of the poem. I just want to say that it is really nice that student not only walked out, but the school also helped organized the event to spread the messages,” Wuxihong said.