Follow-up on UHS Walkout

March 14, 2018

Dear Parents, Families, and Extended Uxbridge Community:

Earlier today, we had a student-led event UHSin conjunction with the National School Walkout Day that was planned and facilitated nationally. While some events across the country took a decidedly partisan tone, and even veered toward a political commentary on the Second Amendment, our event at Uxbridge High School struck a cord of mutual support and reconciliation, with the hope of our students leading the world to a better tomorrow.

The students exited the building and stood in silence for about 17 minutes, in memory of and out of respect for the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting. The students who participated, numbering about 100, signed pledges of support, for our community and in support of their peers in Parkland, Florida, for whom many students feel a sense of connectivity through the tragedy that occurred there last month. One of those banners will be sent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Finally, three student speakers addressed the group, which by then had moved back into the building.

The sentiments of the students are what is most important about any event that is student-driven. Emily Fernandes, a senior member of the UHS School Council, spoke about having “the right to fear, feel angry, and go through all these emotions when awful incidents occur...when a place every one of us spends their childhood does not give us the same feeling it used to walking through those front doors, it can change a way we view a certain place.” Another part of that oratory shared that “when we unite to make this place a better environment and look out for one another, we make change we may not immediately see, but we’ll feel.” That sentiment was echoed by the other student speakers, Senior Class President Riley Malone, who stated, “these moments need individuals to come together to support each other and support a strengthened movement that will aid in the protection of a world against common injustice.” Finally, Trevor Rafferty, Student Council president, offered a plea, that “if you know someone is unwell, make them your mission. Take the time to help them. Learn what is bothering them. If it isn’t something that the two of you can work through, just look around.”

More importantly, as classes changed, a couple of students who were not participating walked by the doors and offered their sentiment, stating that while they did not want to participate, they “respected those who did.”

Our hope in facilitating these types of events is not to stifle debate or to pursue one viewpoint over another; rather, it is to shape in our young adults a commitment to listening, to asking, to questioning, to articulating, to accepting. That we had an opportunity to acknowledge our place in a difficult and changing world, and that our students seized that moment appropriately for our community, makes us all proud and looking forward to a better tomorrow.

Thank you for your support. May the snow days be behind us!

Best,

Michael Rubin, Principal

Uxbridge High School