290. That's the number of school shootings since 2013. e_SPar That's the number of school names written in colored chalk on the sidewalks of Henry B. Plant High School in South Tampa, stretching the length of the school's front pavement.
On Feb. 15, 16 Plant High seniors gathered to create a chalk protest in response to the Feb. 14 school shooting at Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 high school students dead. The students interspersed poignant messages among the list of 290 schools that have witnessed gun violence since the 2013 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Action/Change
How many lives?
Do something.
This is a cry for help.
"It truly could have been us," said Savannah Lowry, 18, one of the protest organizers, noting the similarities between Stoneman Douglas' and Plant's open campuses and affluent neighborhood locations. "This is something you couldn't ignore."
When these students heard news of the Parkland shooting, Brooke Shapiro, 18, said, "We were all shaken up," and decided quickly they wanted to share their fear, anger and frustration publicly and meaningfully.
But they also wanted to make their message peaceful and clear. Brooke had seen a chalk protest while visiting a Massachusetts college campus a few years ago and suggested using a similar plan.
"People don't listen when you're angry, when they feel attacked," Brooke said. "That's the great thing about art. We just said: write whatever you're feeling."
The Plant students chose to keep their protest non-partisan. The chalk inscriptions demand action but do not specify a solution espoused by any political faction.
"I think most people think this [school shootings] is a problem," Brooke said. "No matter how you think it should be done, it has to be changed. This was the point: to encourage action."
As pre-arranged by text, they met at the school just before midnight. Some of them were friends; others previously had not known each other well. Most of the students had discussed their plans with their parents, though not all of the parents approved.
Brooke said they checked local ordinances and school policies to be sure they understood the potential risks of their actions.
Any consequences they may have faced, said Macie Lavender, 17, "don't compare to the fact people were gunned down in a school."
The students' initial intention was to keep the protest anonymous, but when they felt attention shift toward discovering the messages' source and away from the messages themselves, they collectively decided to make their names public. The response has been almost entirely supportive.
One student said that, though she and her family disagree politically, her parents were very moved by the chalk inscriptions and told her they were proud of her work. Adrian Mendoza, 17, said several teachers thanked and commended him.
"We don't want it to stop here," said Ethan Kramer, 18. "Our demographic - 'young people' - is notoriously uninvolved with our political process. But we have the power to advocate for change."
Whether that change means different gun laws, better mental health treatment, or other options, these students are infuriated that they still have to question their safety at school.
"This week there are lockdown drills at all the schools," Macie said. "That's putting a bandaid over a gunshot wound. The best response you have is to teach us to hide in a closet?"
Cat Sterlacci, 17, agreed.
"Saying changing laws won't work is like saying you're bad at something before you try it."
The chalk drawings have resonated with the Plant student body, and with students across the county. A group of juniors followed that lead and organized a vigil in front of the school on Monday morning, wearing all white in memory of the Parkland Douglas students.
Hundreds of students from various high schools participated in a vigil at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park on Monday. On Tuesday, Strawberry Crest High School students held a vigil after its softball game.
Several students plan to participate in other school gun violence protest events, such as a March 24 rally in Tallahassee set to be led by Stoneman Douglas survivors.
"We have all felt ignored and silenced," Macie said.
Pointing to the chalk inscriptions covering Plant's open sidewalks, Brooke added. "These are our words of protest. We are breaking the silence."
Contact Emily L. Hay Hinsdale at hillsnews@tampabay.com.
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