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Ashland High School Students Join National Walkout Over Gun Violence

Liam Moriarty/JPR News
Ashland High School students file into the gymnasium to participate in an assembly to honor the victims of the mass shooting one month ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Students at Ashland High School joined others across the region – and the nation – in a walkout Wednesday morning to raise awareness about gun violence.

Standing in the gym at Ashland High School, one by one, students read off the names and a short bio of each of the victims of last month’s school shooting in Florida …

“Helena Ramsey … She was 17 … A deeply-loved senior, her family remembers her as being a smart, kind-hearted and thoughtful individual.”

A moment of silence was observed after each name …

The national walkout came exactly one month after 17 students and staff died at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Ashland High School senior Kip Parowski says the reading of the names personalized the victims.

“It gave them a character and a face, and something that we can all understand and we can see,” he says. “It could happen here and those kids are our kids and they’re our friends. And we have to understand that to be able to make a difference.”

The organizers of the Ashland event say they focused on honoring the victims to minimize the divisiveness of the gun debate.

Students also walked out at other schools around the region, including Grants Pass, Roseburg, Eugene, Eureka and Shasta County.

More protests are planned nationwide on March 24th, including a march on Washington, D.C.

Liam Moriarty has been covering news in the Pacific Northwest for three decades. He served two stints as JPR News Director and retired full-time from JPR at the end of 2021. Liam now edits and curates the news on JPR's website and digital platforms.