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Chaminda Hangilipola and Silver Chips

Parkland students visit Blair High School, host student forum

Congressman Jamie Raskin made a phone call to Montgomery Blair High School principal Renay Johnson. In a span of 24 hours, survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting united with over 600 Montgomery County students.

Raskin, the Democratic U.S. Representative of Maryland’s 8th district, had 10 students from Parkland, Florida, visit Blair High School on Feb. 26th, 2018. Five days prior to this event, approximately 1,000 MCPS students staged a walkout from to the U.S. Capitol to show their support for stronger gun control laws. The schools that participated included Blair, Richard Montgomery High School, Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, Albert Einstein High School and Winston Churchill High School.

The night began with a performance from Blair’s choir group of the songs “Rise Up,” by Andra Day, “Sweet Love,” and “Blowing in the Wind,” by Bob Dylan, in honor of the students who passed away in the recent MSD shooting. Following the performance, Johnson invited eight MCPS students up on stage. The student panel consisted of four students from Blair, along with one representative from Rockville High School, Einstein, Richard Montgomery and BCC.

Shortly after, Raskin introduced the 10 students from MSD High School that came up on stage. They were joined by their Congressman, Ted Deutch, who represents the 22nd district in Palm Beach County, Florida.

“These students, and their classmates, and their families… all stood up together and said the time to have the conversation… is right now,” stated Congressman Deutch,“This is the generation that will insist upon change.”

Raskin made a statement regarding the students from MSD, “You’ve shown America what patriotism really means. You’ve shown us how to speak out forcefully for change. You’ve show us what civility really means. You’ve show us what democracy looks like. You have shown us in our own time, in 2018, what a movement for non-violence looks like in the United States of America.”

The MSD students introduced themselves and emphasized the need for students to vote in every election and to attend the March for our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. on March 24th.

MSD alumni Matthew Deitsch shared that earlier in the day, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) had informed the students that first time voters show up ⅕ times. Deitsch credited his brother, MSD senior Ryan Deitsch, who replied, “Why don’t we flip that, make it ⅘ and change the world?”

Ryan Deitsch also stated “We are teenagers, we have a voice, we can speak out, and you’re going to listen.”

MSD students had been meeting with Congressman on Capitol Hill all day to rally for stronger gun control laws. They also spoke with civil rights activist John Lewis and Congressman Steve Scalise, a victim of last year’s Alexandria ballpark shooting. The following day, they were scheduled to meet with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan.

The event at Blair was the first school event that Parkland shooting victims had  participated in since the attack on Feb. 14th, 2018. The event was closed to parents, community members and the press.

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