At Pella High School, the purpose of their participation in the national school walkout aimed to have less to do with politics, and more about encouraging action to prevent future tragedies.

One of the organizers at Pella High School Annaleigh Babcock tells KNIA/KRLS News she was overwhelmed by the over 70 students who stood in solidarity, and that the work of improving school safety is far from over.

“Our next step is to keep the conversation going, to bring up more ideas and more ways that we can potentially solve this issue, and just so we can end school violence,” she says.

Abbi Adrian believes it is up to students and young people to raise their voices and concerns to make action happen.

“We are Generation Z, we are the future, we need to do something about it and I think we can be the generation that actually gets stuff done and changes America for the better,” Adrian says.

The group of students at Pella also held 13 seconds of silence to remember those lost at Columbine High School on the 19th anniversary of the tragic shooting, and 17 students read the names of the 17 victims in the Parkland shooting earlier this year.