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Students, community groups push for revived pledge and local performances to address gun safety
Summary
At the Sept. 22 school board meeting, a community volunteer and the District Youth Council outlined student-led anti-gun initiatives including student-written plays Oct. 6 and plans to reintroduce a 1996 student pledge against gun violence.
At the Northfield Public School District board meeting on Monday, Sept. 22, a community volunteer and student leaders described ongoing and planned student-led efforts focused on gun-safety awareness.
Karen Mader, speaking for the Be Smart for Kids campaign, said she was invited to a meeting at Dr. Hillman’s office and has been working with local PTO leaders and school staff to introduce the organization’s materials. Mader invited district representatives and community members to student-written performances of Enough to End Gun Violence on Monday, Oct. 6. She said the plays — six 10-minute pieces selected in the spring — will be staged at multiple Minnesota venues including the Landmark Center at Hopkins, Marshall and Dilworth this year. “So it’s just giving a voice to students,” she said.
The District Youth Council (DYC) presented its 2025–26 plans. Atticus Mayer, senior at Northfield High School and co-chair of DYC, described the council’s purpose as connecting students with the school board and summarized events from last year, including a Reimagine referendum forum for students, a school-board-candidate forum, a budget-reduction forum and an annual menstrual-product distribution. Mayer said DYC will have 17 members this year, two subcommittees (student relations and board relations), and a new adult adviser, Emily Culver, who will replace Martha Lundeen.
Mayer said one major project under discussion is reintroducing a student pledge against gun violence first used in 1996. He said the pledge is “purely a commitment to gun responsibility and safety” and “makes no comment on the Second Amendment rights,” and that Mary Lewis Grow, the pledge’s originator, has joined conversations about bringing it back. Mayer said he hopes “almost every student in Northfield High School knows what DYC is,” and the council plans to expand outreach through social media, a possible DYC page on the Northfield Public Schools website, and tabling during the school’s flex/lunch periods.
No board action was recorded on the presentations. The district’s public-comment rules, cited at the start of the meeting as District policy 206, set a three-minute limit and prohibit remarks about specific students or staff.
