The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club led many students in a vow of silence today. The Day of Silence exists to acknowledge people whose voices are not heard in their community. It is also intended to spread awareness about suicide and mental health for those who feel they can’t speak out or ask for help.

To spread awareness, students and staff in the GSA sold t-shirts through the week of April 11 during lunch periods. GSA members bought t-shirt for eight dollars and other students or staff could bought them for 12 dollars. Students bought a total of 55 shirts this year. The shirts features a semicolon on the front, which is used as a common symbol for mental health. 

“As a mark of punctuation, it means that there’s another idea, there’s more coming, and that the sentence hasn’t ended yet. It has become a symbol of how a life hasn’t ended yet,” Rachel Holden-Kaufman, leader of GSA and English teacher, said.

Astrid Zambori, a student member of GSA, took a vow of silence on April 22. They remained quiet during the school day in solidarity with those that feel they can’t speak out. Zambori stuck to the vow by writing on a post-it note to communicate with teachers and students. 

“We haven’t been seeing a lot of students participate in the vow of silence, but it is amazing to see teachers and students wearing shirts,” Zambori wrote.

After school, students are able to participate in a celebration of the successes they made in spreading awareness. There, they will break the silence by speaking with one another after they have taken their vow.