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Long Island Students Create Peace Garden To Honor Shooting Victims

SYOSSET, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Students across the country walked out of their classrooms Friday to rally for gun reform on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

While hundreds of Manhattan students held their walkout in Washington Square Park, teens at one Long Island high school walked in, joining forces to create a garden of peace in honor of shooting victims.

"We're doing a peace garden, while other people are walking out, because I feel like this is impacting all of us in a different way than walking out of school," Long Island High School for the Arts junior Celia Spero told CBS2's Jessica Moore. "It's just more spiritual, I guess you could say."

The peace garden in the school's courtyard was the brainchild of Principal Chris Bleecker.

"We wanted to create an alternative activity to a walkout today where students could still really get connected to nature, feel like they were honor victims but also do something to build community among each other," she said.

The students incorporated 239 plants into the peace garden, representing the number of school shootings in the U.S. since Sandy Hook.

Film students joined drama, dance and music majors in the creative endeavor, compromising their artistic visions to create a community masterpiece. Students said it's a lesson for the country.

"If the world was like this, where everyone came together as a larger community and put aside their differences – in our cases, our artistic points of view – I think we would actually be in a a much better place," senior Marco Cunha said.

Students said the new peace garden will serve as a living memorial to those lost to gun violence and a tangible reminder of what can happen when peace overcomes hate.

The principal said the plants she chose for the garden are native to Long Island and beneficial to bees and butterflies that fly around campus.

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