BUFFALO, NY - Thousands of schools across the country participated in "National School Walkout Day", including several schools in WNY.
Niagara Falls, Kenmore West and Canisius High School were just a few of the schools that gave students permission to "walkout" and assemble in their auditoriums to protest gun violence and pay respect to the 17 students and staff who lost their lives in the Parkland, Florida school shooting.
The "walkout" lasted about 17 minutes for most schools before heading back to class. But the "walkout" itself looked a little different for each school.
At Kenmore West it was more of a remembrance for those 17 that were killed last month.
Student's did walk out of their classrooms at 10 a.m. and filed into their auditorium for a ceremony. During the ceremony, the names of the 17 victims were read with brief biographies about each.
"We felt like if we did what traditionally is happening, a walkout, walking outside of school, it wouldn't be very productive," Laura D'Quino, a Kenmore West Junior, said. "It wouldn't be very significant and it wouldn't really send a message. We felt like if we did something educational, informative, and really sending a message, a very powerful message to the students here, it would be a lot more productive."
2 On Your Side will have more on why students felt it was important to do this on Channel 2 News First at 5pm.