Hundreds walk out of Triangle schools as part of national movement
Students across the Triangle will walk out of their classes on Friday as part of National School Walkout Day to demand an end to gun violence.
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Students wearing orange walked from the school just before 10 a.m.
Students walked from the building to the football field where speeches were planned.
Students at Enloe High School in Raleigh are going to walk out of the school at 10 a.m. and march together to the football field for a gun control rally. Student organizers say the event is going to last about an hour. Speakers are lined up, and students are encouraged to make and bring gun violence prevention signs.
There are not as many high schools in Wake County participating in Friday's walkout as the one on March 14, the one month anniversary of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. But many students still plan to rally after school in Raleigh at an event called Why Wake Walks, which begins at 4 p.m. at Halifax Mall.
Local students say the walkout is needed to prompt change after the shooting that killed 17 people in Florida.
"When we heard about the Parkland shooting, we thought that could have been us," said Greear Webb, a junior at Sanderson High School. "That could have easily been our teachers, our administration, our football coaches. We thought that this has gone on long enough, and students really need to speak up and use their voices for positive change."
In the Triangle, walkouts are scheduled at East Wake Academy, Sanderson High School, Enloe High School, Ligon GT Magnet Middle School and North Carolina State University.
Like many participants, Webb wants to continue conversation beyond today's events.
Webb has organized a town hall next month at Sanderson High School, where he is a student, to continue pushing for safer schools.
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