On September 5th, 2025, many Highland students participated in the nationwide student led Safer Schools Walkout. This walkout, organized by Students Demand Action, was a call for legislative action on gun violence, specifically affecting schools.
This was prompted by a shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on August 27th that killed two young children and injured others. Gun control has been a growing topic for students, parents, and teachers. In 2025 alone, there have been 44 school shootings in the U.S. The walkout was designed to let local and national leaders that students demand safer schools.
“The idea is that schools all across the country walked out at noon basically to protest gun violence in schools,” Highland senior Carmen LeCluyse said.
LeCluyse was one of the students organizing the walkout. LeCluyse promoted the walkout to students through social media, flyers throughout the school, and word of mouth. During the walkout, LeClusyse led chants and directed participating members of the school.
A bit more than 100 students joined in the protest as students marched west down 2100 South and into Sugarhouse Park. The event lasted one hour, at which point students were expected to return to class.
The Highland administration acknowledged the idea of the walkout and supported students wanting to exercise their rights, but wanted to ensure that it was done safely and within the school’s policies.
“I think it’s great that students want to practice their right of the ability to walk out,” Highland Principal Jeremey Chatterton said. “So I don’t want to deny that in any way, shape, or form, but there are certain policies and things that we have to make sure we’re covering. So we just want to make sure we are doing it in the best way we can.”
More than 250 schools across the nation participated in this walkout, hoping to raise their voices toward their concern.
“There has been no [significant] change in gun policy in those last 26 years,” Highland senior Simon Young said. “It is a disgrace to have this many children perish from a completely avoidable tragedy.”
