By ANNALISE KNUDSON, KAYLA SIMAS and BILL LYONS

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Students in Staten Island high schools walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday morning to remember the victims of the Parkland, Fla., shooting and to protest gun violence.

The walkout was planned for the one-month anniversary of the fatal shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

The nationwide event was organized by the Youth Empower group, a teenage branch of the Women's March. The walkout is officially dubbed the #Enough! National School Walkout.

Students at various Staten Island schools, including Curtis, New Dorp, Tottenville, Port Richmond and Susan Wagner high schools, joined their peers around the city and across the country and participated in the walkout.

SUSAN WAGNER

Over 1,000 Susan Wagner High School students walked out of the Sea View school at 10 a.m., and gathered at the top of the hill adjacent to the school's building on Brielle Avenue.

Dozens of New York Police Department officers and Wagner faculty instructed students walking as they held signs and chanted.

"We're walking not just for 17 minutes for the 17 victims but also to show Washington that we will not rest even a month after this tragedy and we will not rest until something is done," said Madison Gattullo, a senior at Wagner.

Students referred to the scare at Wagner last month, when an unfounded report of a gun prompted a lockdown and a large NYPD response.

"We had a scare not too long ago, and people were crying to their moms, they thought their life was over -- and it needs to change," said senior Nadirah Sanders.

She recalled the lockdown, adding: "I was in the school when it happened and the scariest moment was when the police came in and we thought our lives were over and it was scary because we didn't know what was going on. Our lives could've ended that day."

Students were locked in their classrooms for approximately two hours as police searched the building for a gun, before eventually being dismissed.

"Just because it's not a headline anymore doesn't mean it's not important," said Jenna Mangogna, a senior at Wagner.

Students said they participated because they have the opportunity to let their voices be heard.

"We're out here because we wanted to show our support and make awareness because those 17 victims are dead," said Esther Silva, a junior at Wagner. "We also want stricter gun laws but we're not making a political statement."

NEW DORP HIGH SCHOOL

At New Dorp High School, students lined up at the gates, where they stood for a moment of silence.

Sydney Kapassakis, senior and student government president, and junior Michael Gatti, who worked to organize the walkout, both gave speeches.

"Today, we walk out to stand with victims and students also taking a stand in Parkland," Gatti said. "Many of us do not have the right to vote yet, and politicians tell us that we do not belong in politics or making these decisions, but this is our future.

He continued: "I'm sick and tired of hearing, 'Now's not the time to talk about.' We must be the change we wish to see -- and if we can't vote, then peacefully assembling is one of our only options."

Kapassakis said in her speech that students are walking out to remember the lives lost in Parkland, but also because of the lives "cut short from gun violence."

"It's our second amendment to have the right to bear arms -- we aren't asking for the ban of guns, we're asking for stricter gun laws," she said. "We're asking for laws that will prevent a citizen, who's not even old enough to buy a drink, to buy a gun. We're asking for the sale of automatic weapons to be stricter. We're asking for laws that will precent a person with mental illness from ever purchasing a gun."

CURTIS HIGH SCHOOL

Approximately 100 students at Curtis High School walked out of the building to the school's athletic fields.

Some Curtis and Ralph R. McKee High School students rallied on the steps of Borough Hall in St. George, holding signs with names of the victims from the Parkland shooting.

Students made speeches and chants including, "Protect the kids, not the guns."

National Walkout Day to honor the 17 killed in Florida school shooting #NationalSchoolWalkout #NationalWalkoutDay pic.twitter.com/7AfWh9ZyOv — Petrides School (@PetridesSchool) March 14, 2018

Student led protest. #enough Over 350 students marched the perimeter of I.S. 27 in silence to protest violence in schools. So proud! #StudentsStandUp #everythingisawesomeIS27 @SIBFSC @NYCSchools pic.twitter.com/gDLs0GT3Xi — I.S. 27 (@IS27Prall) March 14, 2018

Hundreds of students walk through City Hall toward the #NYPD HQ for #NationalWalkoutDay pic.twitter.com/h4ytWaACAn — Sydney Kashiwagi (@SydneyKashiwagi) March 14, 2018

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