Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 5-25-18

Local
Students Produce Song That Responds To School Shootings
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The students released 3 inspirational songs produced this year at a listening party.
When the students at Wal- ters Academy for Entrepre- neurship held its first listening party last Wednes- day (May 16th) for the release of 3 songs, one of them was a song about school shootings. They had no idea how timely their song would be.
Within days after they held the listening party, an- other school shooting oc- curred in Santa Fe, Texas. Ten died and 10 were criti- cally injured.
The students presented a school song, “Moving For- ward: Our Time,” “Traders WAE,” and “Save Our Chil- dren.”
Dr. Veronica Walters, also known as ‘Dr. V.,’ who is Head of School, at Walters Academy for Entrepreneur- ship (WAE), challenged the students to produce a musical response to the recent school shootings.
“The challenge resulted in the students having several
Standing, Back (l-r): Jaylen Rodriguez, Adam Walters, Dr. Veronica Walters (Dr. V), comedian Raynard Hirsch, M. E. Means, Malcom Spence, and Mekhi Walters.
Front Row (l-r): Cornelius Massey, Jr., Essence Johnston, Amari Stubbs, A’mya Kelly and Aajela Williams.
conversations
about the
causes of the school shoot- ings, gun control and possible solutions,” Dr. Walters ex- plained.
“I decided to have them do the song because they love music and music is a powerful way to address difficult situa- tions. The students provide the perspectives of victims and shooters who are also vic-
tims of failed mental health efforts for our youth,” she fur- ther explained.
Entitled, “Save Our Chil- dren,” this song is specifically about the school shootings The song has lyrics from the perspective of the shooter and the victims.
A’mya Kelly, a 10th grader presented lyrics from the perspective of the shooter. She said: “Maybe I’m feeling so lonely, so helpless, maybe I feel like no one can help me...It’s been a long time, but they failed to see the signs.”
Mekhi Walters, 8th
grade, also shared lyrics from the perspective of the shooter. She talked about being bul- lied and betrayed and coming in with an oozie, but realizing the mistake he made.
The victims’ perspectives were presented by two of the students. Adam Walters, an 11th grader, who comments that even though the shooter was hurting, it didn’t make it okay for him to hurt others. Aajela Williams, 6th grader, sings about the impact on the fathers and mothers as well as the students. She asked the audience to come together as
a community to rebuild the unity.
The WAE students ap- peared on a local news station recently to talk about the lyrics of their song.
‘These students address issues such as bullying, de- pression, gun violence, gun control, and youth mental health. These students tack- led a tough topic with insight, wisdom, and clarity,” Dr. Walters said.
Listen to their songs at https://soundcloud.com/use r-89607048/save-our-chil- dren.
Walters Academy for En- trepreneurship is a private school serving 4-12th grades, designed to educate today’s youthpreneurs to be tomor- row’s billionaires through so- cial entrepreneurship.
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2018