Hundreds of students from high schools across Monroe County spent Friday participating in the second National School Walkout to protest gun violence and advocate for stricter gun regulation.
This was the first opportunity for Monroe County Community School Corporation students to march because they were on spring break during the first walkout on March 14.
Afterwards, students with written permission from their parents left campus to meet students from Bloomington High School South at the Monroe County Courthouse.
Students held signs and chanted, remembering victims but also calling out leaders who make gun policy.
"Hey, hey, NRA, how many kids did you kill today?" they chanted.
Marielle Berin is a sophomore at North. She says students are satisfied with how the school handled the walkout.
"The school is very supportive of us and very supportive of what we're fighting for, but they know this is mainly student based and student regulated, so they knew when to back off when they needed to," she says.
But Berin says this rally is only the beginning.
"I'm hoping to see gun control, feel safe whenever I go to school or go out in public," she says. "I don't want to have to worry about whether I'll come safely at the end of the day."
Berin says she also wants students who are old enough to go out and vote. She was part of a large group that blocked traffic as they marched from the courthouse to Third Street Park.
Berin says her parents encouraged her to stand up for what's right.
"They came here for a better life in America," Berin says. "And now they have to worry about whether or not I'll come home safely every time they drop me off at school, and that's not what they worked so hard for."
Bloomington Students Against Assault Weapons organized the event with guidance from the group Mom's Demand Action Against Gun Violence.
During the rally, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners designated April 20 as School Walkout Day. They say each year schools will take a moment of silence for those who died in school shootings.
A few students opposed to stricter gun regulation also demonstrated.
