In honor of the fifth anniversary of their march in Washington, D.C., March For Our Lives held rallies in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, and California. March 24 marked five years since the March For Our Lives movement began following the shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school that killed 17 students and staff.

Hart District Teachers Association members Jim Klipfel and John Minkus were among the dozens of mostly young activists, students, gun violence survivors, and community supporters who participated in the March For Our Lives rally at the State Capitol for gun violence prevention laws.

Klipfel, a swim coach, social studies teacher, and former Teacher of the Year, and Minkus, HDTA president and special education teacher, have firsthand stories of gun violence on a school campus. They were on site at the November 2019 Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita where a student shot and killed two classmates and himself and wounded five others.

“Thank you for being here for the righteous causes of non-violence, safety, peace, respect, and love,” Klipfel said. A 35-year teaching veteran, he said there have been “countless challenging days, but I have had only one bad day… In November 2019, I was kneeling with three young people who would not be going home to their loved ones and their futures. The shooting victim survivors would begin their long recovery from the emergency room.

“Thousands of us, unharmed physically, would begin our recovery from trauma, grief, and loss,” he said. “Every new tragic shooting, especially at schools, just reopens the wounds. They also remind us of our urgent obligation to act.”

Hart District Teachers Association members Jim Klipfel (left) and John Minkus visit with Fremont MFOL organizers Armaan Sharma (second from left) and Anya Patri.

“We come here today thinking globally and acting locally,” Minkus said. “We call on this legislature not just to think, but to act, to make hard decisions. Decisions that can, should, and will impact the lives of all. Decisions to make it a priority to protect and provide for people, especially the students in our schools and the children in our homes.

“We applaud the efforts to support the social-emotional and mental health of our charge, but there is more to be done to ensure a safe and sound environment for teaching and learning—for students and teachers alike,” he said. “We come here to fight or change, not for band aids to assuage or cover up the wounds of yesterday, but action to help avert and hopefully prevent the malevolence of tomorrow.”

NEA is a national partner with March For Our Lives. Both organizations advocate for gun violence prevention and have a commitment to raising student voices.