The rock near the HHS old gyms parking lot has changed with the times. Individuals have spray painted the rock their class color, or even made it rainbow in light of LGBTQ+ pride. Typically a light-hearted, fun practice, the current rock painting has addressed an issue of grave seriousness.

Spray painted fully in black, and written with bold red letters is the phrase, “MSD Strong.” MSD stands for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a shooting in Parkland, FL on Feb. 14.

The students responsible for this deed done Saturday night, Mar. 10 are Julia Fromstein, junior, and her friend, who chooses to remain anonymous.

“I felt really empowered and excited to do it, but it was scary because we did it at 12:30 in the morning. That was the only time that worked for the both of us, ” Fromstein said.

The shooting was done by Nikolas Cruz, a 19 year old former, expelled student who walked into MSD with an AR-15 and shot 17 people, both faculty and students. This shooting has created a big rise in discussion and advocacy for change regarding mental health and gun laws.

“I feel like in other communities there are people taking action for gun violence, which I didn’t see in our community. These other people inspired me to honor the victims and spread the message that we don’t stand for gun violence,” Fromstein said.

Due to the Nationwide walkout on Mar. 14, Hopkin’s support for this topic was truly shown in the large crowd amassed in the bus loop. Small actions like the rock painting and walkout serve to bring awareness and show the extent to which the youth population desires reform.

“Of course, it was a little scary to spray paint the rock, I felt like I was breaking rules and vandalizing in a way, but this message was more important than any trouble we could get in,” Fromstein said.