By Mary O’KEEFE

On Friday, April 20, Crescenta Valley High School students decided to participate in the National Walk-Out and commemoration of the Columbine High School shootings by registering students to vote.

“We had a voters’ registration drive,” said Zach Johnson, CVHS senior and organizer of the event.

Johnson was also an organizer of the nationwide protest in March for gun reform when CVHS students held a rally during their break at school.

“That [rally] was successful but it took a lot of planning,” he said.

So instead the students decided to hold a voters’ registration.

“We registered 45 to 50 students,” he said.

He addedA that registering students to vote was not political because students could register under any party.

“We just want people to get involved,” he said.

Johnson, like many students, is concerned for his safety at school.

“There are days when I am in class and I think, ‘What if someone came into class [with a gun]? Which way would I go to get out?’” he said.

There have been some negative discussions on social media about student involvement in protesting, especially since the Parkland shooting.

“Honestly, we just ignore those [negative] comments,” he said. “We are making a lot of decisions on our own, like where we are going to college and what we want to do the rest of our lives … And when you are [a teenager] you are old enough to know that you want to feel safe at school.”

Johnson said he understands there are many opinions in America, and felt the rally in March and Friday’s voters’ registration was a good way to reach out to everyone.

“We have an obligation as an American citizen to be active and to vote,” he said. “We are the next voting generation.”

  Mary Okeefe