Sophomore Celeste Gerbaulet-Vanasse stands on the Conservatory green after the 17 minutes of silence. “I’m marching because guns are a real problem in our country, especially our city of Chicago, and we need to show our governors, and the people in higher positions that we don’t stand for it and it’s not ok.”

Sophomore Rohan Jain stands with his sign behind students gathered for the rally. “I’m marching to provide solidarity to the shooting that happened in Parkland, and trying to prevent gun violence in the future by taking action.”

Junior Harriet Fardon stands in wait outside the Lincoln Park Conservatory for the 17 minutes of silence to start. “It’s really powerful and meaningful to see everyone coming out and marching in support of the victims. It felt very important.”

Senior Martha Wedner waits to speak at the rally, where she talked about the importance of voting. “In the past I’ve always felt like you had to be in the room where it happens to make change… but when you come of age, voting is one of the best forms of action.”

Senior Kaden Florsheim gave a speech about the importance of teens getting involved in making change in the country. “We’re often told that we’re the future, or that one day we can make a difference. But the policies that are enacted, or that the government fails to enact, affect us now.”

Sophomore Max Antoniou poses with his sign. “Sometimes kids are forgotten about. Their opinions are neglected. By rallying, we let our presence be known and we show that we have valid opinions.”

Freshman Benjamin Gourdji poses with his sign during the walk back to school. “Especially now, when the Parkland students have made such a difference, I think we have power. If we keep the pressure up, we can show our elected officials that we care about this issue and ask for change.”

Juniors Zoe Laris-Djokovic and Audrey Shadle hold their sign after the rally. Laris-Djokovic said, “Everyone here needs to know that they have enough power to actually initiate change.”

Senior Maya Plotnick stands in the fourth floor hallway after the rally. “We’ve done other activism-related things through school before, but this is the first time — and I’ve been at Parker since JK– I’ve felt the power of student-lead activism and felt inspired by and seen the change we actually could make.”

Sophomore Isabel Olesinski lowers her head in condolence for the Parkland and Chicago victims of gun violence. “This needs to stop, and stop now.”

Junior Bea Turner while leading her second breakout session: a video and discussion. “I’m really enjoying the questions that are coming up. It’s so great to see us all unified and sharing these experiences and our viewpoints together.”

Sophomore Jacob Forst stands by the sophomore bench during a break. “I thought the Town Hall was good. I think a lot of people listened and learned stuff from it.”