The Year Of Lockdown
Gun Violence Strikes Twice At East, Sparking Demands: Our Voices Will Be Heard
By Anna Boyle and Elin Lawrence
Special to the GPHN
Lockdowns and secure perimeters have become so frequent at East High School that most students are numb to the fact that when these now-routine announcements come in through the PA system, a dangerous situation may actually be occurring.
When the announcement of a secure perimeter on Feb. 13 interrupted seventh period, fear was not the first emotion — laughter and annoyance were.
That February day, casual conversations occupied everyone until text messages and social media stories from friends started rolling in. Students who witnessed what happened on the Esplanade, and students in classes facing 17th Avenue who heard the gunshots, were the first to notify their peers.
At 3:39 p.m., East Principal Terita Walker sent out a notice of a secure perimeter, but the extent of what happened was not clarified to students until nearly two hours later. In the meantime, parents weren’t informed of the status of their kids — a delay in communications that can be attributed to the time it takes for central administration to allow Walker to send out official notifications.
East High students on the Esplanade on March 1. Rally photos by Evan Semón
(For those who need a translation for terms that are now common to students: “Secure perimeter” means that the school locks all doors, but classes continue as normal. “Lockdown” is more severe, meaning students lock the classroom doors, turn off lights, and get out of sight from door windows.)
This process of ensuring the messages are accurate and verified before anything official is issued has proved detrimental to students’ mental well-being. Specifically, when something is actually happening at the school, students are in the dark.
Here’s an example: Back in September, when East was placed on lockdown for an active shooter threat, parents only received information from students hiding under desks, who believed the threat was real.
Teenagers are consistently told to stop spreading rumors and misinformation, but it’s a hard ask when they are victims of a faulty school system.
Devastated, and beyond angry
On March 1, just over two weeks after he was shot, Luis Garcia was taken off of life support. When the news was broken to the Angel community, students were devastated. We are also beyond angry at current gun laws and the ongoing lack of coordinated communication from Denver Public Schools.
That Thursday, students arrived at school and placed flowers on the “E” in remembrance of Garcia. The emotional tension in the crowd surrounding those flowers set the tone for the rest of the week. As unease and resentment for a community students once viewed as safe settled over, the only movement was when individuals grabbed their classmates for support. Teammates from Garcia’s soccer team wore their jerseys in solidarity. Some covered their number with Garcia’s: #11.
Once-rowdy high school hallways became dark and strained. Bathroom breaks became time for students to cry. Book learning became insignificant.
Instead of preparing for an upcoming exam, many students opted to march, a march to fight for their own lives. The action was not for East administrators; it didn’t have school board member Tay Anderson’s name attached. The action was for one young man and friend and teammate named Luis Garcia, and the safety of surviving East Angels.
Students hoisted signs and posters bearing Luis’s name, and messages:
— “I would rather be writing an essay than my will”
— “Schools are for learning, not lockdowns”
— “If I die, put my body on the steps of Congress”
The crowd marched down 16th Avenue and gathered on the steps of Colorado’s Capitol building. Because as long as East students are still standing, they will fight to never lose another Angel. Some made their way inside the Capitol, through the metal detectors. They met with lawmakers and sat in the gallery.
At the end of the day, many left feeling empowered; however, most were unsatisfied. Because, at the end of the day, East students still walk around with a recurrent and immediate fear: Will I be next? And, wherever I am, what is my exit plan?
Who will be next?
In a news story published before Garcia was killed, the Washington Post reported that in the 24 years since Columbine, 338,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at their schools. On Feb. 13 that number climbed to 340,579 students, after adding in East High School’s impacted population.
Gun control appears necessary for the safety of America, especially schools. The advocacy shown by students at East and surrounding communities seems admirable and universal.
However, there are still people, even students at a school that has experienced gun violence, who refuse to admit a change is needed. On the day of the march, a number of students remained at school for various reasons. Some chose to stay simply because they don’t believe gun control is needed.
What was inherently a march to honor Luis has turned into political division. In our journalism class, especially, students and teachers have had many discussions about school shootings and gun violence in other states.
After Luis was killed, we conducted an informal poll at the school to gauge the temperature of students. Of 119 students we talked to, 84 said they do not feel safe at school; 102 of 118 students said they do not feel heard by their school’s administration. Many choose to not attend their classes anymore — some students have opted to go back to all-online learning at least for the rest of the school year. Some parents have declined to send their kids back to East.
When sitting in class, many students are no longer worried about their upcoming test, but whether or not they or their friend will be the next victim. Sometimes, when innocent, careless shouts echo through the hallways from freshmen, some of the older students wonder, at least momentarily, whether they are cries of danger.
It is important to note that these students — these teenagers — are not only scared for their lives, but grieving as well.
We are grieving. We will be heard.
On March 22, just weeks after Luis died, East student Austin Lyle shot two school deans during a routine bag check. Many students were in the auditorium at the time, just about 20 feet from the deans’ offices. They were still listening to the Latino Students United assembly; no one was aware of the shooting or that a lockdown was in place.
Friends listened intently, some browsed their phones — until the performance was finally halted. The auditorium doors were not locked during or immediately after the shooting. Many were left shaken, not purely because of the shots fired, but because of the shots that could’ve been fired if Lyle had chosen to detour a few feet into the auditorium.
Later that day, Lyle’s body was found in the mountains and an apparent suicide was reported to the already-reeling community. Grief was not only reserved for the wounded deans, Eric Sinclair and Jerald Mason, but for the 17-year-old boy who seemed to be the result of a defective school system.
The improving mental health resources and outreach faculty seems to be effective, except for students already labeled as dangerous.
One would hope that, along with mandated searches of his backpack, faculty would have required mental health check-ups as well. After all, when someone is in possession of a weapon, there is a greater chance they will use it on themselves.
To this, a final note. A major revelation can be made about the East community: We are resilient. From districtwide walkouts and the expansion of the gun control group Students Demand Action, to flowers on the steps of the Capitol, East will make its voice heard — or rather, we are demanding our voices be heard.
And as the school year comes to a close, the community is not only hoping, but begging, for a proactive solution to gun violence in schools.
Anna Boyle and Elin Lawrence are the co-editors of The Spotlight, East High School’s student publication. They both live in Park Hill, and wrote this retrospective analysis for the Greater Park Hill News.
See also: