Students across the country walked out of their classroom on Wednesday to show solidarity with the shooting survivors of Parkland. Those students are also calling for increased gun control.

Thousands of students walked out of their classroom nationwide, including in Central Florida. Students from Liberty High School, St. Cloud Middle and Poinciana High in Osceola county were part of this peaceful protest.

“We did have students at some of our high schools and some of our middle schools wanting to exercise their voice,” said Superintendent Dr. Debra Pace.  

Dr. Pace said all the walkouts were peaceful. She said there was a walkout on Wednesday morning that lasted 17 minutes to remember the lives lost in Parkland, and another protest later on in the afternoon.

There is a Twitter page called Student Walkout Against Gun Violence that seems to be organizing these events. The page reads, “Change isn’t coming; It is here!”

Dr. Pace said that through it all, the most important thing for her as an administrator is safety. The school district took extra precautions in advance to make sure everything was carried out in a calm manner.

“We had our principals designate some specific areas that we knew would be safe and well-supervised, but that was also a common place to gather,” Dr. Pace said. “For example, for some students it was in the courtyard, for others it was in the bus area. It was where it made the most sense on that campus.”

According to the Twitter page organizing these events, there will be two other walkouts nationwide on March 14 and April 20.