Hundreds of Hillsborough County students marked the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting by participating in the National School Walkout.
- Participation varied school to school
- District wanted students to have opportunity to share their message
- Efforts inspired by Parkland students' efforts
Just how students participated in the national effort varied from school to school At Blake High School in Tampa, a group of students marched for gun safety after finishing classes for the day.
At Lennard High in Ruskin, meanwhile, students held a voter registration drive and a kindness walk during their lunch hours.
“In this political climate right now, we’re very divided and it’s a good idea to spread a little kindness, a little bit of love,” said walk organizer Courtney Wilkerson. “Then I think our differences, we can still agree, but we can disagree with respect and with love, and we can actually work together to make a difference.”
Hillsborough County Public School spokeswoman Tanya Arja said the district wanted to make sure students had the opportunity to share their message, but they also wanted to ensure it did not take away from school.
“It’s a balance right now, because we have state mandated testing that all of the high schools are going through,” Arja said.
Students said they were inspired to hold the events by the high schoolers in Parkland. They said they just want this to be the beginning of the conversation, and not the end of it.