March 14th at Oxford

On March 14th 2018, Oxford created their own version of the National Walkout Day where students throughout the country walked out at 10am for 17 minutes to protest recent gun violence in schools across the country, a source of fear and anger for many students and families. Here at Oxford Academy students and teachers put together a memorial display, information, and an action station in the rotunda. Students and teachers brought 17 empty backpacks to school to put in the rotunda and students later attached a piece of paper with each Parkland Florida shooting victim's name and biography to the backpacks. At 10am Oxford art teacher Jill Vaughn led a group of students in a solidarity walk around the border of the campus, carrying a student silhouette with relevant messages attached. Students also wrote letters to congressman, sharing their opinions on the issue and solutions. We were fortunate to have several students volunteer to man the station throughout the day and it served as a respectful and thoughtful space to reflect and act on this serious topic.