Abington Friends students, faculty and staff joined schools around the nation in a 17-minute walkout on March 14, the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school where 17 students and faculty members were killed. At AFS, the school took part in the walkout at 10 a.m., in hopes of sustaining attention about ending gun violence in our schools and communities and lifting up the Quaker values of peace and non-violence.

Upper and Middle School students formed a large circle on the front lawn of the School and stood in silent reflection. Later, in Meetings for Action, students considered five queries, including one that asked, “How can we, as teenagers, use our voices to create change in the world?”

Meanwhile, students in the Lower School classrooms spent the morning in peace-related activities, including writing poetry, coloring mandelas, stringing beads on peace necklaces and practicing yoga. Then they, too, left the building with their teachers to form a ring around a large Northern Red Oak tree near the division entrance. The students joined in spirited singing of familiar songs, including “This Little Light of Mine” and “I’ve Got Peace Like a River.” Head of School Rich Nourie, Music Teacher Keisha Hirlinger and Kindergarten Teacher Raji Malik led the singing.