Opinion: It's time to 'move our feet'

"The tragedy this week at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis marked the first school shooting of the new school year."

"We sputter for words that have become dulled from repetition like "tragic," "heartbreaking," and "outrageous" because, as Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz said this week at one of the press conferences of grim-faced public officials, "There shouldn't be words for these types of incidents since they should not happen." But it has come to happen over and over in America. Children run for their lives from classrooms and playgrounds."

"Matthew DeBoer, the principal of Annunciation Catholic School, told a press conference that he'd planned for this school year's theme to come from the Book of Jeremiah: "a future filled with hope." "There's nothing that happened today that can fill us with hope," the principal said. "We lost two angels today" "We can't change the past," he said. "But we can do something about the future. There's an African proverb that says, 'When you pray, move your feet.' So I beg you, and I ask you to please pray, but don't stop with your words. Let's make a difference and support this community, these children, these families and teachers, never again can we let this happen.""

A school shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis became the first recorded school shooting of the new school year. Education Week reports more than two dozen K–12 shootings during the previous school year. Children cried and scrambled in a place meant to be safe as officials and community members reacted. Governor Tim Walz emphasized that such incidents should not happen. Principal Matthew DeBoer had planned a theme of hope but described the immediate loss of two children and urged prayer paired with concrete action, calling for community support to prevent recurrence.

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