SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School students honor the 17 victims killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. (Photo courtesy of SIUE)

With the permission of school administrators, approximately 30 students from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) assembled at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 14 to memorialize the 17 victims of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

CHS senior student leaders organized a balloon memorial and moment of silence from 10-10:17 a.m. at the Of the River Mounds and Bridges stainless steel statue on the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus.

Seventeen students each held a balloon. The name of each victim of the Parkland school shooting was read before the balloons were released. Students also carried posters protesting gun violence and supporting gun reform.

“Our students assembled peacefully, and the memorial was well organized,” said CHS Director Gina Jeffries. “I support the students. They have to have a platform.”

“This is an issue that is critical to them, as well as to myself,” continued Jeffries. “I commend their efforts to honor the 17 victims. Our students’ display also shows that school safety is not just a suburban issue, but an urban one, too. It is an issue that affects the entire nation.”

The SIUE Charter High School is a school-of-choice for families in the East St. Louis School District 189.