As many of you know, thousands of students across the nation demonstrated today against gun violence, standing in their classrooms or walking out of their schools for 17 minutes, one month to the day that a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Florida.
Approximately 120 students at Grand Center Arts Academy and Confluence Preparatory Academy participated in this national demonstration. As is always the case with student events of this sort, each student participating must turn in a parent permission letter and write at minimum a paragraph about why they want to participate. GCAA and CPA students gathered outside their schools, with staff supervision and in a safe area, and presented a brief program of their own design. The demonstrations were passionate, pointed and respectful. All participating students returned to their regular class schedule after the demonstration. Participation in this demonstration was, of course, not mandatory and students who did not participate had supervision in the school buildings during this time.
Part of our mission at Confluence Academies is providing our students reasonable opportunities to discuss their thoughts and feelings about important issues of the day when this can be accomplished within a safe and respectful learning environment. We commonly take this approach around significant current issues, whether they be civic, social or scientific. As educators, we are responsible to model constructive behavior, allowing your student to listen, learn from others, and express themselves in respectful community. These values are central to our mission at Confluence.
I am proud of our students for their commitment to building a safer, better world.
Please feel free to reach out to me or to your school principal if you have any questions or concerns. As always, thank you for your dedication to the success of Confluence students and to a better society.