Cherry Hill East students held a moment of silence for victims of the Parkland shooting at the 50-yard-line of the football field.
For the second consecutive day, students at Cherry Hill High School East left class in protest of the school district’s decision to place history teacher Timothy Locke on administrative leave after a discussion took place on the Parkland, Florida shooting and school security in his classroom last week.
Hundreds of students at Cherry Hill East walked out of the school building around 8 a.m. in protest against the decision. The walk out was the second consecutive day students left class in protest.
Senior Justin Tobolsky participated in today’s walkout and said, though he never had Locke as a teacher, he felt implored to support him and his students.
“I know many people who cherished him and aspired to be like him,” Tobolsky said. “From a human being perspective, he has a family to provide and support for, so to take away all that for a poor reason is outlandish to me.”
Junior Anthony Gambino, another walkout participant, is a student in Locke’s AP world history class and spoke highly of him.
“The walk-out and protests for a safer school was the message he was preaching to us in class the days following the Parkland shooting,” Gambino said in an email to The Sun. “He was my only teacher to address the shooting and that is a very sad fact. This man is hands down my favorite teacher ever and I’m telling you that no other teacher could generate this type of response from the students.”
As part of the walkout, students gather at the 50-yard-line of the football field and had a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting in Parkland. Gambino said it was the first moment of silence they had following the shooting at the school.
“The atmosphere afterwards was electric because we were all in sync and chanted together for our teachers,” Tobolsky said. “ The actual moment of silence, however, was emotional. No one wants to go through a tragedy like that, and I think it made us stop and think for a moment how lucky we are to be here and how much we take for granted.”
Gambino added the protest wasn’t just about Locke, but also a plea to school official to take action and improve the school’s security.
“All in all, us students felt it was time to make sure our voices were heard and to demand change of the security systems and the reinstatement of one of the most beloved men to ever walk the halls of East,” he said.
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