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A Month After Florida Shooting, New England Students Part Of National Walkout

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, a month after the school shooting in Florida, thousands of students in New England will participate in a 17-minute national walkout, demanding Congress pass gun legislation.

Among the dozens of walkouts planned around the region, one was organized by Mia Hastings, a freshman at the high school in Agawam, Massachusetts. She said she's never done anything like this before, but because the Parkland shooting happened in the school's "freshman wing," it hit her hard.

"They were my age. They took the same classes I was taking," Hastings said Tuesday.

Before going forward with the walkout, Hastings met with the school principal and district superintendent.

Hastings said she was given permission to use the cafeteria, but not to go outside the building. Disappointed, she said it crossed her mind to lead the protest outside anyway, but she won't.

Agawam High School has almost 1200 students; Hastings expects at least 60 of them to join her.

The websitemany students, including Hastings, used to organize the national walkout stated, "We want Congress to pay attention and take note: many of us will vote this November and many others will join in 2020."

Jill Kaufman has been a reporter and host at NEPM since 2005. Before that she spent 10 years at WBUR in Boston, producing "The Connection" with Christopher Lydon and on "Morning Edition" reporting and hosting. She's also hosted NHPR's daily talk show "The Exhange" and was an editor at PRX's "The World."
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