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Local students join 'March for Our Lives' events in Washington D.C., Pittsburgh | TribLIVE.com
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Local students join 'March for Our Lives' events in Washington D.C., Pittsburgh

Jamie Martines And Ben Schmitt
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Ben Schmitt | Tribune-Review
Students demonstrate in support of stricter gun control during a march and rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
People meander about prior to the start of the March for Our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
People meander about prior to the start of the March for Our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
People meander about prior to the start of the March for Our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Police officers stand around an armed man attending the March for our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh's Market Square on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Karen Urso, of Union Township, sits on the steps of the City-County Building prior to the March for our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
People meander about prior to the start of the March for Our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Elyse Bluestone, 20, of Point Breeze holds a sign on the steps of the City-County Building prior to the March for Our Lives rally in Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Students lead the March for Our Lives rally through the streets of Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 24, 2018.

Students, teachers and others from across Western Pennsylvania on Saturday descended on Washington D.C. to participate in the national March for Our Lives rally and a sister event in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Their goal is to urge Congress to work to reduce gun violence and increase school safety.

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Several busloads of Pittsburgh area students joined hundreds of thousands of people who gathered in the nation's capital, while the city of Pittsburgh estimated about 30,000 people marched in the event Downtown.

WASHINGTON D.C.

They wore matching orange shirts, carried orange flags and took to Constitution Avenue with fists raised.

Pittsburgh had arrived in DC, and they made sure everyone knew it, chanting and marching for about a mile before reaching the official rally point.

Kyle Fogarty, 16, of Swissvale, started losing is voice long before the group of about 200 students paused to take in the rally before the start of the march.

He's marching in Washington to put an end to gun violence, he said. Fogarty, a junior at Woodland Hills High School, said he has lost 15 classmates to gun violence over the past four years. That doesn't count those who have been injured or felt the impact of losing a friend or family member, he said.

"Fifteen kids that couldn't go to graduation. Fifteen kids who couldn't go to prom. Fifteen kids who maybe didn't even have their first kiss," he said.

The group of students came from schools across the Pittsburgh Public Schools system and surrounding suburbs. They marched with arms locked, forming a block that parted crowds. They chanted: "Students united will never be divided; vote them out; they don't really care about us."

"It's great to see all of the people, especially adults, supporting the students," said Gabby Gubitosi, 18, a senior at CAPA. "Especially to see how Pittsburgh came together to connect with other strong groups."

As students listened to speakers — students of Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School were joined by singers, celebrities and student speakers from around the county — they discussed why they came to Washington.

Alexis Kelly, 18, a student at the Student Achievement Center, marched on behalf of people who have experienced gun violence. She was shot in the chest and arm in July 2017, she said.

"Nobody talks about the struggle, that people who have been shot, what they go through," Kelly said.

She said she hopes the march will get people in power to take the time to listen and understand why students are marching.

"Why don't the people who have the power care?" she said.

Chloe Baker, 13, of Homestead, marched in support of her mother and others in her community who have lost friends to gun violence.

She wants people to know that gun violence hurts more than just the people who get shot, the seventh grader at Sacred Heart Elementary said.

"It hurts the people who loved them, and the people around them, and the people in the community," Baker said.

On Friday, the Hempfield Area High School senior marched in a Greensburg rally at the Westmoreland County Courthouse. The next day, she joined students from across the country in Washington.

"In Greensburg, that was a lot more people than expected," Jones said of the crowd of about 200, adding that she noticed that it was mostly adults and community members.

"But here, it's mostly entirely youth," Jones said of the crowds in Washington.

Four buses carrying about 200 Pittsburgh area students departed from Woodland Hills High School early Saturday to join peers from across the country in Washington.

Many students clutched blankets and pillows, while others carried signs — "We will vote you out," "Protect kids not guns" — as they boarded the buses around 5 a.m.

"It's important to represent our community at the national level," said Madeline Hilf, 18, a senior at Woodland Hills High School. "This will be part of history, it's a revolution."

Hilf said she is marching because she has lost several classmates to gun violence this year.

Led by students from CAPA and supported by the progressive advocacy organization One Pennsylvania, the students will march along Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capitol to demand safer schools and stricter gun control laws.

Baldwin High School senior Jonna Backers, 17, lost her brother to gun violence. She sees the march as a "step in the right direction" and a chance to address gun violence as a community issue, not just a school safety issue.

Though more than 800 sister marches are scheduled to take place in cities around the world Saturday, including Pittsburgh, CAPA senior Serena Zets, 17, still thought it was important to make the trip to Washington.

"The opportunity to connect and meet kids from around the country, as well as adult allies, is invaluable," Zets said.

One of the four buses was filled with about 50 young women.

"It feels great to have a space dedicated to women," said Gabby Zets, 17, a senior at CAPA. "We're all about trying to lift up those voices that typically aren't heard."

Students like Rebecca Kukushkin, 18, a senior at Sci Tech, are excited to be part of history today.

"It feels like we can be part of something bigger than us," she said.

PITTSBURGH