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By Iram Arce<\/p>\n
More than a thousand Warriors and many teachers and staff members participated in its own march at approximately 12:45 p.m. after the radio broadcast during sixth period.<\/p>\n Participants marched from their classrooms to the football field for approximately 17 minutes, one minute for each of the victims in Florida. Students then were directed to the bleachers to listen to students\u2019 speeches.<\/p>\n First, Dr. Augustine Romero voiced his support for students\u2019 opinions.<\/p>\n Twelve students spoke afterwards\u2014each of them conveying their concerns regarding school safety and regulating the Second Amendment, either in short two or three-minute speeches or in the form of poems.<\/p>\n One of the dozen speakers, senior Brianna Metzler, said, \u201cBecause of my anxiety issues, giving this speech was a true testament to needing to express my voice. I took a chance [to publicly speak] and do not regret the words that I shared with nearly a thousand students. I\u2019m proud of myself, and I really hope that I was heard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was shocked at how many students participated,\u201d said senior Jorge Becerril, who was one of a few students instrumental in organizing this event. \u201cI was equally impressed by the quality of the speeches from students who were very committed to expressing their voice about gun violence at our schools across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Another senior who co-organized this event, senior Liam Membrila, said, \u201cI have always seen and felt the hunger for myself and my generation to be heard. I really want to show our representatives our <\/strong>reality\u2014seeing the swarm of Pueblo students and faculty marching and chanting, \u2018The people united shall never be divided!\u2019 This inspired me to be even louder.\u201d<\/p>\n Membrila added, \u201cThe greatest frustration, however, was a constant tug-of-war with the district about allowing local media on campus. It\u2019s not as if our march were something disrespectful or about something illegal. We [students] were speaking about our safety. My generation will be the change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLast minute changes were very frustrating,\u201d Becerril said. \u201cI was disappointed that our administrators did not allow Channel 4 [KVOA] on campus, but I suppose that they had their directives from the district office. It\u2019s not like we were trying to riot or speak about something not legal. We students definitely had a mission and a purpose, and our diligence to have common sense gun laws hopefully lasts until there is change. I would think that our administrators would want the Pueblo community to have media coverage because what we students did was very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Student body president Kanani Salazar, a senior, was one of the two emcees at the event, introducing each speaker.<\/p>\n \u201cThe march was extremely organized,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cWe heard many different voices that are seldom heard. I hope this isn\u2019t the last of these marches because students need to be heard. Young people across the nation are the future of this country, and we will make positive changes, including common sense Second Amendment laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Another emcee, senior Cynthia Amarillas, said, \u201cI am very proud of the Pueblo community for uniting for a very valid cause. We will be the generation that changes gun laws in America. We all must register to vote so that our voices are heard. We will not abandon this movement. Enough is enough!\u201d<\/p>\n Seniors Darlene Padilla and Bea Nevarez set up a table for 18-year-olds to register to vote, and many seniors took advantage of this opportunity.<\/p>\n Andrea Cuevas, a senior, and one of the hundreds of participants in the march, said, \u201cVoting is essential to change this country\u2019s policies. Young people\u2014especially Hispanics\u2014need to vote. This generation is creating this country\u2019s future. If we don\u2019t vote, then we become merely bystanders.\u201d<\/p>\n TUSD School Board member Ms. Adelita Grijalva (and a former Pueblo graduate\u2014from the Class of 1989) voiced how proud she was of Warriors\u2019 spirit and their commitment to making positive changes.<\/p>\n At approximately 2 p.m., the march was officially over, and students returned to their classes feeling confident that they had made a difference in their community.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, Pueblo High School\u2019s first march to pay homage to Florida\u2019s shooting victims was undoubtedly very successful,\u201d said Cynthia Amarillas. \u201cHopefully this march also showed administration that students are capable of organizing and implementing events that make a positive difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Aerial Photos:\u00a0Andrew Romero, a junior, under the supervision of teacher Mr. Ernesto Somoza. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Iram Arce On Wednesday, March 14, thousands of high schools across the United States participated in a \u201cMarch For Our Lives\u201d event to pay homage to the 17 shooting victims at Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14\u2014as well as to express their strong opinions about a lack of stricter gun … Continue reading Warriors United For \u2018March For Our Lives\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[256,6,22,250,319],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pA2u4-MU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3032"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3032"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3041,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3032\/revisions\/3041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/March-For-Our-Lives.jpg\")
<\/a>On Wednesday, March 14, thousands of high schools across the United States participated in a \u201cMarch For Our Lives<\/a>\u201d event to pay homage to the 17 shooting victims at Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14\u2014as well as to express their strong opinions about a lack of stricter gun laws.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/March-For-Our-Lives-Pueblo-HS-2018-A-550x310.jpg\")
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