Area Students Protest to Push for Safe Schools
Around the country and throughout metro Birmingham Wednesday, students from kindergarten through 12th grade participated in National Walkout Day. They were honoring recent school shooting victims and raising awareness about the need for school safety.
Hundreds of Mountain Brook High students walked down the school hallway. They said they feel safe. But they also said they feel connected to students in Parkland, Florida and across town in Huffman, where there have been fatal school shootings.
“ These were people just like me,” says Nik Dworek, student body president. “This could have been very easily me could have happened at any high school.”
Students packed into the center of the school. Most of them wore black. They set up little boxes and note paper on tables around the school for students to write notes to lawmakers. In his speech, Dworek called for unity and challenged students to tell leaders what they want.
“Let’s change the status quo,” he said. “Let’s do it, not only for us and our generation, but for generations to come.
Kary Utomi, a junior, led a memorial to 17 students killed in Parkland, Florida a month ago, and Courtlin Arrington, a senior killed at Huffman High School last week.
“This isn’t about a political statement. It’s about legislators being able to hear what we need and we want from them,” she said.
Mountain Brook’s event started at 9:50 a.m. Participation was voluntary, but student organizers said most of the school’s 1,000 students were gathered in a large open space inside the school. The students decided to stay inside for access to a sound system and video screen, said Simona Shirley, one of the organizers.
At other schools, like Spain Park High School in Hoover, administrators did not support the walkout, and parents say students were threatened with suspension. Administrators did not return calls for comment. At Vestavia Hills High School, the principal didn’t allow media on campus during the walkout. Birmingham schools supported the walkout, and Superintendent Lisa Herring tweeted: “I’m standing with students.”
Mountain Brook High School Principal Amanda Hood watched the 18-minute program. She said she wants students to know they are safe so they can focus on their education. But she also wants them to learn from sharing opinions and taking action.
Viral global TikToks: A twist on soccer, Tanzania’s Charlie Chaplin, hope in Gaza
TikToks are everywhere (well, except countries like Australia and India, where they've been banned.) We talk to the creators of some of the year's most popular reels from the Global South.
This painting is missing. Do you have it?
An important work from a rediscovered artist has been absent from public view since the 1970s. A New York curator is hunting for it.
Memory loss: As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise
Demand for memory chips currently exceeds supply and there's very little chance of that changing any time soon. More chips for AI means less available for other products such as computers and phones and that could drive up those prices too.
Brigitte Bardot, sex goddess of cinema, has died
Legendary screen siren and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91. The alluring former model starred in numerous movies, often playing the highly sexualized love interest.
For Ukrainians, a nuclear missile museum is a bitter reminder of what the country gave up
The Museum of Strategic Missile Forces tells the story of how Ukraine dismantled its nuclear weapons arsenal after independence in 1991. Today many Ukrainians believe that decision to give up nukes was a mistake.
Jeffrey R. Holland, next in line to lead Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 85
Jeffrey R. Holland led the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a key governing body. He was next in line to become the church's president.
