Manual High student journalists leave for March for Our Lives rally

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – It was very early and very cold outside Manual High School on Thursday morning. However, student journalists from Manual High School and local middle schoolers were excited.

They were preparing for a field trip that will one day appear in history books.

"I don't want to be scared to go to school," Yamini Polcum said.

Eighteen high schoolers, two middle schoolers and five chaperones hit the road for a 10-hour ride to Washington, D.C.

The students will be joining an expected 500,000 people at the March for Our Lives rally on Saturday. The rally is protesting gun violence and pushing for the protection of kids in schools.

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It was organized by students from Parkland, Florida after a mass school shooting that left 17 dead.

"This group of journalists, we felt like this was really important to cover," Noah Keckler said. "Also, that we're students, and what they have planned for this march, it's just really important that we are there."

"I said,'Of course I'll go,'" parent and chaperone Mike Mays said. "My initial reaction was just excited for them, and really proud of them for wanting to be a part of this."

The passion of the students caught the eye of national networks. MSNBC will be following their entire journey and the BBC will interview them once they make it to D.C.

"I think we have been given the privilege and the responsibility that anytime the cameras are on us, we're turning it around and talking about the issue," Audrey Champelli said. "[We're] making sure people know why we're doing what we're doing."

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