Students assemble amid national protests

By RICHARD JENKINS

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While students across the country walked out of class Wednesday in a call for action on gun violence and to remember the 17 students killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; Gogebic Range students recognized the effort in various ways.

In Ironwood, interested students from the district's upper grades gathered in the gym to talk with members of the Ironwood Public Safety Department regarding school safety.

"Our main thing was to provide a space for students that had concerns to ask questions, for them to realize we're all in this together," Ironwood Superintendent Tim Kolesar said after the discussion. "As (Ironwood Public Safety Director Gregory) Klecker said, 'You're our troops on the ground.' We're in this together, we may be able to avoid something in the future based on the information we can get from our students.

"Students, they live on those phones. They can see a post way before law enforcement or school officials or teachers can."

He said while some of the students across the country were advocating for political positions, the district wasn't promoting any particular political agenda.

"I think we accomplished what we wanted to without supporting anything other than showing the kids we really do care and we will take every step necessary to prevent anything like this from happening," Kolesar said.

Some students in the district had been planning to participate in the nationwide walkouts, according to Kolesar, so the district wanted to provide a space for them to share their feelings.

The public safety department encouraged the students to contact the district or department if they heard anything they concerning and encouraged them to take leadership roles in the community.

Klecker said the department was a safe place to talk. The students can also use the OK2SAY app, which is an application from the state of Michigan that allows students to report concerns to the state anonymously. The tips are then distributed to local agencies.

The topics of metal detectors at the entrances of Luther L. Wright K-12 School and the building's security at night were also discussed in response to questions from students and parents who attended the meeting.

While Kolesar told the Daily Globe it was impossible to promise there would never be an incident in Ironwood because it was impossible to completely control every individual, he promised the district was working hard to keep the district's students safe.

"We're going to take every report as serious as we possibly can," Kolesar said. "If anything like (a school shooting) would happen in this building ... I'd be devastated. Everybody in this community would.

"We do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen."

"How do you predict a very irrational decision made by any individual," Kolesar asked, summarizing challenge facing the district.

While the district's older students had the option of going to the gym, K-12 Principal Denise Woodward said several of the lower grades incorporated lessons on kindness and friendship into their lesson plans Wednesday.

One of the activities involved students writing what they liked about each other, adding a special component to the standard grammar lessons.

The day's lessons built on existing curriculum on the importance of kindness and avoiding bullying, Woodward said.

Other districts in the area, including Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco, also had students involved in activities in various ways.

In Wakefield, Michigan State Police trooper Jerry Mazurek spoke to students for approximately half an hour. Mazurek told the grades 7-12 students he was happy to be in their school talking about violence and guns and their efforts to address the issue. Mazurek said one of the best things they can do if they decide to contact someone about an issue is not to say, "I've got a problem," but instead to say, "I've got a solution."

Mazurek wanted the kids to know identifying an issue is one thing, but to provide an answer or solution to the same issue is something else all together. Mazurek said the students should be aware of their surroundings and be willing to say something if they see something.

Editor's Note: Daily Globe reporter Ian Minielly contributed to this story.