Please plan on attending the forum on “Gun violence Prevention”. This event is free and open to public.
RSVP here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1788258821481732/
Sunday, April 8 2018
3-4:30 PM
Temple Emunah, 9 Piper Rd, Lexington, MA
A conversation with:
Attorney General Maura Healey
Chaplain Clementina M. Chéry
My’Kel McMillen
LHS student Emily Weinberg
Dear Bus Riders,
Thank you for joining us for the March For Our Lives! Here is an update on the plans for the bus. Over the weekend, the March organizers changed the start time. It is now a 2 mile March, starting at the Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and going to the Common. We are planning to leave Lexington High School (Worthen Street side) at 8:30 am. We will board the bus at 3 pm, at the corner of Charles and Beacon. It is a long day, and we thought it best to leave at 3 rather than the suggested 4:30-5 pm. The buses may not be able to leave at 3 pm due to the crowds, but I’m sure that we will be happy to have a warm place to sit while we wait to leave. We will have water and some snacks on the bus for our return (please no nuts on the bus). Dress warmly and wear comfortable shoes! It is going to be 41 and overcast, so I think it will be manageable.
Schedule:
· March gathering 9-10 am
· March starts at 11 am
· Common opens at 12 pm
· Official Rally starts at 2 pm
Do bring: snacks, medicine, water, power bank, cash, and id
Do not bring: large backpack, signs on sticks, masks, pets, alcohol, clothing/signs with hate speech, lighters
We ask you all to review this informational packet from the organizers that covers what to bring, what not to bring, what we will be doing and actions you can take beyond the March.
https://www.marchforourlivesboston.com/march-details
We will be sorting you into 2 buses. We will keep all groups together and will try and put people together with your friends. Look for an email tomorrow with your bus assignments and contact information for your bus captains.
On the day of the march, we will check you into the bus before we depart. We need the group leads to stay with their groups since we don’t have contact info for you all. We will give you a handout with the bus route, the bus captains names and phone numbers and our meeting spots. I will set up a groupme group text for us, and you will get a message the night before the march.
If for some reason you decide not to come back to the bus, please try and text your captain (your phone will probably work at the beginning and the end of the day when the crowds are thinner—remember that when you don’t have signal you battery will go fast, consider putting it on airplane mode for a period).
Thank you,
Teresa, Devesh, Ragini, Jessie
#Lexingtonsaysenough
Lexington high school, Diamond Middle school, and Clarke middle school participated in a walk-out last week. 1000+ LHS students joined the march. Roughly 700 students at Diamond and 150 students at Clarke Middle schools participated in the walk-out. Students wore orange and wore orange crocheted flowers and awareness ribbons Students demanded action for safer schools, community, and neighborhoods.
Various media outlets covered the walk-outs. Here are some of the links.
Minuteman – Clarke middleschool
When: Thursday, March 15
Where: Football Field
Walkout timeframe: 9:50 AM to 10:45 AM
9:50 AM: Walkout of classroom
10 AM: Assemble at Football field. If it is not clean, we walk to Worthen Rd.
10:35 AM: Walk out ends, start walking back to classroom
10:45 AM: Back in classroom for attendance
When: Thursday, March 15
Where: Front Courtyard
Walkout timeframe: 9:50 AM to 10:45 AM
9:50 AM: Walkout of classroom
10 AM: Assemble at Front Entryway
10:35 AM: Walk out ends, start walking back to classroom
10:45 AM: Back in classroom for attendance
When: Friday, March 16
Where: Front Courtyard
Walkout timeframe: 9:50 AM to 10:45 AM
9:50 AM: Walkout of classroom
10 AM: Assemble at Front Courtyard
10:35 AM: Walk out ends, start walking back to classroom
10:45 AM: Back in classroom for attendance
Episcopal City Mission is providing a 55 passenger bus and driver to transport people to Washington, D.C. to participate in the March for Our Lives on Saturday, Mar 24.
The bus will depart Lexington, MA (pick-up location TBD) at 9AM on Friday, Mar 23 and depart from Washington at 5PM on Mar 24. Sign-up is first come-first served via March for Our Lives DC Rally – Episcopal City Mission Bus Registration The per person cost to Episcopal City Mission (ECM) to provide this service is $150/person.
ECM’s goal is to fill the bus. ECM is asking people to pay as they are able to defray the cost of the bus but no one who wants to participate will be turned away because they cannot contribute. Sleeping accommodations and meals will be provided free of charge by St. John’s Church, Georgetown. Participants should bring sleeping bags, pillows, and mats, toiletries and comfort items.
[powr-countdown-timer id=72233dd2_1520865514]
Emily Weinberg, LHS sophomore participated in a roundtable hosted by WBUR. Check it out.
What have we been up to? Here is a short list:
We need funds to support following:
1. On March 24, 2018, Lexington students and citizens will travel to DC and Boston to join with “March For Our Lives” event, to raise their collective voices to join in the movement to end gun violence. The cost for transportation and lodging for these people is about $125 per person for DC and $25 for Boston. Not everyone can afford to pay this amount. We want to help students and their chaperones with a scholarship so that they can join the march.
2. We have built a website and need funds to pay for domain and WordPress subscription.
3. Contribute the left over to “March for Our Lives Boston”.
We have set a goal of $5000 dollars, which will fund the above much-needed items.
We are hopeful that the community will step up and assist our students in making it to this protest.
Gun Violence Prevention — Action, Truth and Reconciliation
When: April 8, 3:00-4:30pm,
Where:Temple Emunah, 9 Piper Rd, Lexington, MA 02421
Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by: Follen Church Gun Violence Prevention Committee
Co-sponsored by #LexingtonSaysEnough
This inclusive forum on gun safety and healing will inform us about existing gun safety laws, highlight the work of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in Roxbury/Dorchester, and the work of student activists.
Panelists will include:
* Attorney General Maura Healey, who will describe existing Massachusetts and Federal gun safety laws.
* Chaplain Clementina Chéry, President of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, where the focus is on ongoing gun violence prevention, peace promotion, and support and healing for families of victims of gun violence; the Peace Institute’s Mother’s Day Walk for Peace is an annual march through Boston draws upwards of 20,000 people.
*Emily Weinberg, LHS student March 14th Walkout organizer, with 300 members.
*A youth activist who works with the Peace Institute.
Contact:
Anne Grady
Chair, Follen Church Gun Violence Prevention Group
anneandrusgrady@gmail.com
781 862-8977
Are you ready to march with fellow students and families to Boston on March 24th? Tickets are now on sale. We are planning to rent 4 buses and we will travel together to Boston and raise our collective voices. Let’s stop the madness, let’s make a change.
We only have 160 tickets and they are in high demand, buy them now.
Coming soon. Tickets for Washington DC bus and lodging.
Thank you for participating in the survey.
The survey is now closed – tickets will go on sale 3/6/2018.
On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington DC and several cities nationwide to demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today.
March with us in Washington DC or Boston. On March 24, the collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.
Last week a bunch of community members including students from LPS came together to discuss how we can support the #enough movement in our community. We are looking/researching into organizing buses to both Boston and DC to attend the marches in Washington DC and Boston on March 24th. This questionnaire is to gauge interest from the community, so we can figure out the interest and arrange logistics. We have less than 4 weeks to plan for this event, so please weigh in so we can plan accordingly.
The cost to attend the 3/24 event to Boston is $25 and to DC will be $125(the exact cost is not known yet, but this survey asks for feedback based on initial estimates). This will cover the cost of traveling on a bus (both ways) with fellow Lexingtonians. We are looking to also raise money to fund scholarships for children/adults who may benefit from it.
There is interest from high schoolers and middle schoolers in participating in the march. If the Community Team can help coordinate buses, it will likely require anyone under 18 to be traveling with a guardian, parent, or chaperone – and may likely require a release of liability.
Please fill out the survey here.
Survey has ended.
We are all reeling from the aftermath of what has happened in Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. As we watched CNN townhall and saw these students rising up and challenging the status quo, conversation in our Lexington community took off. Several students from high school and middle school started having conversations and planning to support the nationwide walkout scheduled for March 14th. Thanks to leaders in our community, we called a quick meeting on feb 25th to discuss and get mobilized. This is just the beginning, we will grow from here.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
— Dr. Suess
Here is a helpful resource from genprogress.org for gun safety activists.
Be careful of the language you use when talking about gun safety to ensure that you are not reinforcing harmful stereotypes about communities of color or individuals with mental illness. Here are some tips on talking about gun safety.
Charlotte Hobbs, LHS sophomore has put together this incredible video which captures the Boston march that Lexington students and residents participated in. It captures the spirit and energy of the march very well.