MADERA -  At 10am this morning around 150 students from Madera South High School didn't walk out in protest but walked up to the free speech stage and stood up for the 17 students and teachers that lost their lives in February in a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Walk Up Not Out proponents say students should try harder to reach out with friendliness and compassion to their more solitary peers. By moving out of their comfort zones and helping their peers feel more welcome, the theory goes, students could potentially head off angry impulses or an outbreak of violence.

The Madera South Asociated Student Body Leadership had inspirational music playing while offering students an opportunity to write cards of support to the students and family of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parklan. Once the seventeen minute "protest" was ove, students returned to their classrooms. Reports from the school are that no student left the campus during this activity.

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All Photos by Jack W Porter, Jr.