Volta Elementary parents, students march for peace, play in wake of recent shooting outside Albany Park neighborhood school
Students and parents of Volta Elementary marched after school Friday asking for peace, safety and investment into their school’s playground in the wake of a shooting next to the school on the city’s Northwest Side.
About 100 parents and children gathered outside the school, 4950 N. Avers Ave., about 3:15 p.m. and held signs asking for a safer school and an improved park and play area for the children.
The event, named the “March for Peace, Love and Play,” took place just down the street from a Feb. 1 shooting that left a 16-year-old girl injured.
Their march around school grounds was meant to bring the community together to acknowledge the trauma they experienced after the girl was shot, said co-organizer Kiersten Solis, who is a parent of two Volta students and a school council member.
The school went on lockdown just before 10 a.m. when two assailants confronted the girl and a teen boy and opened fire before running away, Chicago police said.
The boy, also 16, was not hurt but the girl was shot in the shoulder and taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.
Solis said she and other parents were talking about how traumatized they felt after learning about the shooting and they thought the children were probably also traumatized.
Elizabeth Salinas held a sign that said in Spanish, “We want a secure school for our children.” She has three kids at Volta — an 11-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old — and has become more involved with school activities recently, she said.
Salinas was in the school volunteering with children when the school went on lockdown, she said.
She said she wasn’t sure whether something had actually happened or whether they were practicing a safety drill. She later found out someone had been shot.
“I’m really worried that Albany Park is starting to get more violent,” Salinas said in Spanish.
Students were inside because it was winter but Salinas wondered what could have happened to a child if they’d been out for recess.
Solis said the event was also held to bring attention to a hazardous playground area at the school, which led Volta parents to ask Chicago Public Schools to allocate more than $1 million to replace it.
The ground has broken asphalt and other issues that are dangerous for children, according to Solis, who added that activating and beautifying spaces like the playground can prevent violence and lead to a safer community.
“We wanted to be able to give back to them and do something for them that would help heal the trauma that they were experiencing and listen to them and give them an example of community and love,” Solis said.
Jessica Corona’s 5-year-old son, Santiago Vega, had to get stitches next to his eye in November after he tripped in a hole in the pavement and fell, Corona said, holding up close-up photos of her son’s injury. Corona said she hopes the school can get funding to fix the playground before another child is hurt.
Juan Palacios and his wife, Carol Palacios, marched with their two children, Luciana, 9, and Liam, 6, and a nephew, Simon Palacio, 6.
Juan Palacio said he hopes Friday’s march will bring help bring additional security and support from police. He also hopes it moves neighbors to stay vigilant and speak up in order to keep the community safe.
“We always say, ‘I want to live somewhere safe especially because of my kids,’ but we know in any area this can happen,” Palacio said in Spanish. “No one is exempt from living in an area where a tragedy can happen. But we know if we raise our hand and raise our voice so that the community is aware and contributes in some way to prevention, that’s what we’re looking for here.”
No one is in custody for the shooting and police continue to investigate, Michelle Tannehill, a Chicago police spokesperson, said Friday evening.
