On Wednesday, March 14, Pioneer students participated in a nationwide walk out for school safety, which included demands for gun control in the country. At 10 a.m. hundreds of Pioneer students left the building to stand by the flagpole for 17 minutes to honor the victims of the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting.

Pioneer’s walk out was included in a CNN online photo story of schools participating nationwide.

     After the Pioneer event many students left school to attend a Washtenaw County rally in Riverside Park in Ypsilanti, which featured many Pioneer speakers. The rally was run by the Washtenaw Youth Resistance, a group of teens from different schools all over Washtenaw County who have been meeting weekly to talk about how to push for gun control legislation. They are advocating for no guns in schools, raising the age to purchase a gun to 21, and banning military grade weapons.

     “I went to the rally because gun control is a really important issue and has been for many decades,” said Pioneer senior Sophie  Jaworski. “As students we are choosing to try and stop it.”

     Jaworski hopes that in the future she and her fellow classmates will be able to motivate politicians to listen. “I am hoping that the politicians in office choose to listen to what we have to say and make the right choice, or that we will elect politicians who do listen to us.”

     Washtenaw Youth Resistance member and Pioneer senior Henry Taylor said the rally was an important step in sending a message. “The rally we had today showed that students across Washtenaw County will refuse to be complicit when lawmakers vote against common sense gun control laws,” he said. “Everyone who organized and participated in the rally decided to take matters into their own hands. It proved that students have a unique power that is a tremendous force for good in this nation.”