National School Walkout is Friday. Here's how local students are participating

Some local students will join thousands of others across the country Friday morning to protest gun violence.

As part of the National School Walkout movement, six State High students plan to lead a rally in hopes of bringing attention to gun reform, even if it means facing disciplinary action for skipping class.

"I think it’s a really important way that we as students can make our voices heard," Auden Yurman, a State High sophomore, said. "Most of us are too young to vote, so it’s hard sometimes to feel like we have an impact on politics or on the laws that affect us."

They plan to leave class at 10 a.m., and the rally is expected to last about an hour.

Yurman, who is one of the event organizers, said the main goal is to eliminate fear in schools and urge lawmakers to take action.

Students will meet at the flagpole in front of the high school, where the organizers will speak about the the laws they want enacted and the history of mass shootings, she said.

Friday is also the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School mass shooting in Colorado where 12 students and a teacher were killed.

"Everyone at State High is a post-Columbine kid, so we’ve known our entire lives that every day we go to school something could happen," Yurman said.

She said it's frustrating that in the two decades since Columbine, no changes have been made legally to protect students from a similar situation.

State College Area School District spokesman Chris Rosenblum said students will face detention if they walk out of class on Friday. State High Principal Curtis Johnson addressed the matter in a letter sent to students and parents earlier this week.

"We recognize that free speech and the right to protest are important parts of the American democratic process; however, Friday is a school day and we expect students to attend classes throughout the day," Johnson wrote.

In March, students organized an event to honor the lives of the 17 people killed in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting on Valentine's Day. State High administrators were supportive of the memorial, but since Friday's event is politically charged, they are "not sanctioning or supporting this protest," Johnson wrote in the letter.

"If students cut class or leave school grounds, consequences will be administered according to the school handbook," he said.

Yurman said getting detention is "a small punishment for a really important event."

Bellefonte Area High School students aren't planning to walk out, but some will participate in a less vocal way throughout the school day.

BAHS senior Alex Hunziker said instead of walking out of class, he and other students will participate in the movement by having a day of silence. In addition to not speaking, a rally will likely be held after school at the flagpole.

Administrators from Bellefonte, Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola school districts did not respond to requests for comment.

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 3:37 PM with the headline "National School Walkout is Friday. Here's how local students are participating."