It was a bitter 22 degrees in Brodheadsville, but that did not stop more than 200 Pleasant Valley students from taking part in a national walkout to honor the victims of school shootings.

For 17 minutes beginning at 7:40 a.m., the name of one of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, was read aloud by three members of the student government executive board.

Presidents Michelle Arrigo, Secretary Riley Hughes and Treasurer Dyana Salvi took turns reading the names until it came to Chris Hixon, the 49-year-old athletic director at Stoneman, and Pleasant Valley alumnus. Hixon’s name was read by his classmate and teammate Rocco Seiler, principal of Pleasant Valley Middle School.

The students made the decision to take part in a national walkout from their classes to acknowledge the victims of school shootings.

“We knew we wanted to do something to honor those who were killed,” Arrigo said.

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“We chose to do the walkout because students all across the nation were taking a stance on the school shootings and because it affects our demographic the most we wanted to show our support to students affected by the school shootings,” Arrigo said.

When asked if the recent school shootings would affect the way they voted in the upcoming election, which will be the first for seniors Arrigo and Salvi, Arrigo responded.

“I think everything that happens should affect how you vote, especially a national crisis such as this,” she said. “I think it definitely opens the eyes of citizens to what they want for policy.”

Principal Matthew Triolo said that the district was behind the students’ decision to take part in the event.

“When you are talking about a national event, and after speaking to everyone involved, the students and the teachers, we agreed that it was important to give the students a voice,” Triolo said. “We don’t have the right to shut them down.”

“To have 200 students that want to honor those 14 students and three faculty members who lost their lives, we wanted to help them to do that in the safest environment possible.”

Triolo said that all of the high school students were given the option on Wednesday of staying home, staying in their homeroom or attending the walkout. Triolo estimated that between 200 and 300 students took part in the walkout.

School security, the Pennsylvania State Police and staff blocked off the rear parking area for the protection of the students.