‘Thoughts and prayers’ are not going to bring change. “Our mission is to say that we, as high-schoolers, do not accept the ‘thoughts and prayers’ that go out to our peers who are supposed to be protected. But the fact that it has been 19 years since it has been brought to national attention - and nothing has been done about it - is more of a statement than anything. Senior Isha Raj-Silverman, who helped organize the event, opined: “The Columbine shooting brought this issue into the national spotlight. Along Nautilus Street, students with bullhorns led chants such as “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go,” and “What do we want? Gun reform! When do we want it? Now!”

Protest songs blasted from a speaker including “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson, “My Shot” from the musical “Hamilton,” and the anti-war anthem “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

They joined thousands of students nationwide who marched in similar fashion that day. and over to Fay Avenue at Nautilus Street with signs and chants demanding gun reform. Marking the 19th anniversary, and reflecting on more recent school shootings that have occurred in their lifetimes, nearly 100 La Jolla students walked out of school at 10 a.m. On that fateful day, two teens went on a shooting spree, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. The students who marched out of their La Jolla High School classrooms, April 20, weren’t even born when the tragic Columbine High School shooting took place in Colorado on April 20, 1999, but the aftermath lingers.

Into the light takenote