CLARKSVILLE, MD — Students at River Hill High School were among those joining a national school walkout on Wednesday, March 14. The movement was designed to protest violence exactly one month after 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Participating students left their classrooms for 17 minutes – one minute for each life taken in the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. "The walkout is to show solidarity with the victims of school shootings, but it is also to urge our lawmakers to enact legislation so that there will be no more school shootings," River Hill High School walkout organizer Chris Fazzari told Patch.

Patch attempted to cover the event but was asked to leave, along with other media and adults who came out to support the students. Watch us get kicked out:

During the event at River Hill High School, students planned to walk outside, some sitting or lying on the ground for a "die-in" to draw attention to human loss caused by gun violence.

Within days of posting an event listing online for the walkout, Fazzari said more than 165 students officially RSVPed. By 10:30 a.m., River Hill students were back in class.

School officials sent an email to families afterward stating that "a number of students" took part.

"The students returned to class after the event, and regular instruction will continue for the remainder of the day," River Hill administrators said. "Students had the option to participate or not participate in today's walkout, and they were supported in their choice." Officials at several other Howard County schools where students took part issued letters with the same language following the walkouts.



Leslie Englehart, who has tutored students in Howard County with dyslexia, said she was standing on Clarksville Pike/MD 108 near River Hill High School where students were demonstrating "to show that adults support them." She held a sign calling for a ban on assault weapons. Watch Columbia Patch live on Facebook or see below: