The Day of Silence is an annual event held on April 2 to raise awareness on struggles that the LQBTQIA+ community faces due to not having a voice. This is a day when the community chooses to remain silent to show they have control over their voice.

  “It’s when we get to advocate as a community, as allies,” Karin Walker, GSA sponsor, said.

  The Day of Silence was created by GLSEN, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an American education organization working to end discrimination. This year Mosaic Club brought it to the school.  

  “There was so little voice in decisions in schools. When policies are being made and the people being affected by those policies aren’t being listened to, it’s a problem,” Walker said.

  Student participants had a myriad of reasons for joining.

  “It’s a good way to stand up for the community; the more people that participate the louder our message will be,” Summer Pennington, freshman, said.

  “It’s a good way to put the word out and help other people learn. It was also a fun experience,” Tempest Chason, freshman, said.

  The Day of Silence was created in 1996 but in 2011 the event became more widely celebrated and April 2 became the set date. This year is the first time the school has formally participated. 

  About 30 people wore black masks with an X in the 2023 Day of Silence. Walker hopes this number will rise in later years. All students must do to participate is to collect a Day of Silence mask from a participating teacher or student.

  Some students voiced concern over classes being disrupted with people being unable to talk.

  “I hope that the lack of voices heard will be noticeable, that the idea of losing those voices will disrupt the classroom,” Walker said.

  The goal of the Day of Silence is to be noticeable. The idea is to be heard even without a voice.

  However many students didn’t understand the point of the Day of Silence.

  “A lot of people were confused and had questions I couldn’t answer,” Chason said. The Day of Silence is a “way to stand against bullying and harassment” but it seemed to bring it up more. Many participants talked about others not understanding why they would participate.

  “My friends just weren’t supportive,” Candice Cameron, freshman, said.

  Overall, most participants agreed that they would participate in the Day of Silence again if given the chance. They said that not only did it help spread the word but helped them personally too. 

  “I got to learn a lot of other ways to communicate and advocate for myself. It’s quite hard to be so close to yourself,” Chason said.

  “It’s important to recognize how much what we have to say and who we are is important. It’s to give control and advocacy to all students in the building,” Walker said.