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Colorado High Schoolers Stage Walkout In Solidarity With Parkland

By Joel Hillan

PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - Several hundred students walked out of Chaparral High School Wednesday at noon.

Chaparral High School
(credit: CBS)

Their message was clear -- it's time to something to help students feel safe at school.

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"School is supposed to be a place where you go to take the next steps into your life, whatever that's going to be, whatever you want that to be, not a place where all of that is taken away in seconds," said student protester Cassidy Ramsey.

Chaparral High School
(credit: CBS)

"It doesn't need to be this way. School should be a safe place. If we're required to be here everybody should feel safe," added Junior Terra Koontz.

There have been moments when they have felt unsafe and those moments have stuck with them.

"I remember going into a lockdown a couple of years ago, right before the end of school and it was really scary, there were people crying in my classroom and it could happen to any of us," said Senior Addy Cooper, she helped organize the protest.

Senior Alexa Miller added, "I remember that lockdown we like had to run and like throw desks against the doors and we thought it was a real thing, like we were all hiding in the corner. We were terrified, it was scary."

Chaparral High School
(credit: CBS)

The 17 minute rally ended in a moment of silence for the victims of the Parkland, Florida, shooting. And from that, a renewed determination.

"We can protest, we can talk, we can say all we want, we can want to change our morals but until there's laws in place that make it illegal and harder for people to make these things happen I think that's really what is going to impact the world," said student protester Ally Schlegel.

By 12:20 p.m. the short walkout had ended, the crowd had cleared and the students had returned to class. Although it may just be the start of a greater movement to come.

"If this has to become something that students are rallying across the county to change because the adults won't do anything then it will come to that and we are ready to stand up for our rights and feel safe at school and it's not something that we will back down on," said Junior Samantha Schabbing.

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.

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