On Friday, Sept. 5 at 12:45 p.m., hundreds of Manual students walked out of their fourth block classes and into the front courtyard in protest for the ban of assault weapons and the prevention of school shootings.

Many students held signs and echoed chants such as “enough is enough.”

The walkout was organized by the Students Demand Action (SDA) club, run by Viet Pham (12, HSU), Joanna Lee (12, J&C), Gisellene Peralta-Danger (12, HSU), Heidi Choi (12, HSU), Alyssa Faber (11, HSU) and Maggie Stone (11, J&C). The national chapter of SDA created the walkout, and it was brought to Manual and several other high schools across the country though localized chapters.

The members of SDA worked together to make sure their vision could come to life with the short time frame they were given.

“We stayed after yesterday making signs, preparing for the walkout today. We took time to write the speech that we all prepared today, and so a lot of time went into it,” Lee said.

Students were first informed about the walkout on Monday, Sept. 1 when Manual SDA made their first post about the event. For more information, they made two more posts later in the week, and posted a story where students could ask questions and have them answered by members of the SDA club.

The crowd amassed over 200 students that surrounded speakers Pham, Faber, Lee and Stone to join them in remembering the victims of the recent attack at Annunciation Catholic Church’s back-to-school Mass in Minneapolis, Minn.

“We were so surprised that so many people showed up and decided to walkout with us. We are so grateful to everyone who decided to walkout. We are so grateful to everyone who held a sign. We are so grateful to everyone who chanted with us and we are so grateful that knowing the consequences, students still decided to walkout with us,” Pham said.

Two children were killed and 19 were left injured in the incident at Annunciation Catholic Church. Prior to this incident, 57 other shootings had occurred in 2025 alone. As of 2022, gun violence is the number one cause of death for children and teens from ages one to seventeen.

Walkers were unified by one voice, but driven by personal ones.

“I participated in the walkout to feel the change of America and what we are trying to accomplish,” Ella Davis (10, VA) said.

Some walked not only for their own safety, but also for the safety of others.

“I believe that we should be able to go to school without having to worry about our siblings, friends or even ourselves,” Avery Stevens (9, VA) said.

“I just believe that every kid should have a safe place to learn. I just don’t want that [gun violence] to have to be the number one fear on the mind of every high schooler,” Jake Jeziorski (11, MST) said.

Ultimately, students walked out to express their voice.

“I walked out today because I believe in standing up for what you believe is right, you know? Or standing up against what you think is wrong,” Kenneth Nwaogu (11, HSU) said.

A primary concern on the minds of students was safety concerns regarding the protest. When a school sanctioned event occurs outdoors with notice, there’s room for disaster, specifically regarding gun violence.

“Honestly, I was scared something might happen today. And that’s not fair for 15-year-olds to have to worry about, so it needs to change,” Isabella Hammer (10, HSU) said.

In regard to planning, the SDA club members went to extreme lengths to ensure the safety of students risking their wellbeing to support the cause.

“Our school safety officer was outside patrolling making sure that we were safe,” Pham said.

The walkout concluded with chants of “enough is enough,” “how many more? no more,” and “end shootings not lives.” The SDA coalition provides the number 644-33 for students to text to get updates on gun violence and information about how to show their support for the cause.

“A lot of people showed up, and I think that really shows that youth high schoolers are passionate about this. This is something that we care about. I think that that’s what really made today’s walkout really impactful,” Lee said.

The walkout proved that Manual students are willing to fight for their safety.

“We are continuing to fight to make sure that when we walk into school, we are guaranteed to walk out,” Pham said during his speech.

This story was originally published on Manual RedEye on September 5, 2025.