Students at Saint John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville participated in a nation-wide walkout Sept. 5, joining schools around the country in calling for action after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
“I wanted to be a part of this walkout … because I feel very passionately about the issue at hand,” said Vivian Fitch, a senior who helped organize the event. “I spoke at a protest for March for Our Lives in 2022, and it’s upsetting to me to still be in the same situation three years later.”
The students gathered outside of their school, some holding homemade signs, and walked together down the hill to the Abbey Church. They stood in silence as the church bells tolled.
“This was a nationwide walkout led by Students Demand Action, so I think it is very important and powerful that we were a part of it as a small school in Minnesota near where this most recent shooting was,” said senior Saima Velline, who helped organize the event.
Students Joon Sohn, a sophomore, and Grace Hofer, a junior, read reflections during a short prayer service on the church steps. Theatre director Brandon Anderson shared a poem.
“When I was asked to speak, I was honored to share my thoughts and hopefully inspire others to use their voices to make a change,” Hofer said. “Safety is not a privilege—it’s a right.”
She has a unique perspective on the situation, she said.
“Through my mom’s work as a funeral director, I’ve seen families grieve the loss of young children because of gun violence. It’s something I never want anyone to experience. It’s heartbreaking.”
Hofer said the most recent school shooting left a strong impression on her.
“School shootings should never happen … but nothing has changed in the past few years. I wanted to be a part of something bigger and demand change. Those kids and parents will carry that burden for the rest of their lives.”
In a Facebook post after the event, the staff said they were proud of the students for standing together in faith, compassion, and advocacy.
“The fact that the most recent shooting took place at a private Catholic school in Minnesota tugged at my heart strings a little harder,” Fitch said. “Those children were in a time of prayer, a time that should always be safe, and it was not for them. I think it’s important that even in small communities like Prep, people use their voices and stand up for what is right. Enough is enough.”
Benedictine Brother Sebastian Richey, a student at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary from Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas, helps with campus ministry at Prep. He ended the service with this heartfelt prayer:
God of peace and protector of the innocent,
Today, we stand outside these church doors, hearts heavy with grief and voices raised in hope. We remember Fletcher and Harper, their families, and all whose names are written in sorrow because of violence in our schools and communities.
Lord, as we hear the words of enough, remind us that you are not distant from our pain. You are the God who weeps with us, who takes broken things into your hands and makes them whole. Teach us to dismantle what destroys: fear, anger, violence, and to build what protects: trust, courage, and peace.
Please give us the strength to walk as people of light, refusing to let violence define us. Please help us be a community that chooses life over death, hope over despair, action over silence. Guard every student, every classroom, every family.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord, who is our peace.
Amen.
Pictured above: Students at Saint John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville hug after an emotional prayer service Sept. 5. The service, held over the lunch period, was part of students’ participation in a nationwide walkout calling for action on gun violence. (Dianne Towalski / The Central Minnesota Catholic)
