Amy Gartley could hear the crowd from the Metro.

Once she got off, she began walking towards the crowds of people forming in downtown Washington, D.C. March 24 for the March for Our Lives, a peaceful protest held mainly in response to the Parkland, Florida shooting. As she moved in closer, she saw the stage and the U.S. Capitol Building surrounded by a sea of people of different ages and ethnic backgrounds all fighting for one thing: change.

“In that moment, I knew I was not alone,” Gartley said. “We were all just there to show our love and compassion towards these people who have gone through tragic instances in their life.”

Gartley currently serves as an elementary art teacher at Uniontown Area School District. As a 2009 alumna of Waynesburg University with a degree in art education, Gartley is following her career path, but lately, she has been feeling burdened by what she sees and reads in the news.

“Every time one of these tragic events happen, it’s just another weight on my shoulders as to what can I do about this problem,” Gartley said. “But in the midst of feeling like there’s nothing we can do besides give our thoughts and prayers, what could I do?”

Specifically, it was the Parkland shooting that rocked her to her core, and when she and her friend, who is also a teacher, heard about the March for Our Lives, she knew she had to go.

“I didn’t want to just be one of those people who sit there and complain,” she said. “I wanted to make a difference.”

On an impulse decision, both teachers made the trek to the nation’s capital with the hopes to seek knowledge and comfort, as well as a revolution of ideas when it comes to school shootings.

In her classroom at Franklin Elementary,Gartley said she is too familiar with gun violence protocols. The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School didn’t inspire safety procedures. These procedures were already in place after the shootings at Virginia Tech, San Bernadino, Pulse Night Club, Sandy Hook and Las Vegas, just to name a few.

For Gartley, she said it isn’t the additional safety procedures that upsets her. Instead, it’s the fact that she has to interrupt drawing and finger painting to teach her five-year-old students how to “Act and React” to a potential school shooter.

“There is absolutely no reason why, as an elementary art teacher, I should have to go through trainings as to what to do when there is an active shooter in my classroom,” Gartley said.

Gartley said she tries as hard as she can to stay calm for her students, but she can’t help but feel afraid at times.

However, she thinks that teachers who ignore the problem to focus on curriculum can end up making it worse.

“Education isn’t just solely about PSSA scores,” Gartley said. “If you’re raising a person who is completely well-rounded and compassionate, you have to let teachers share that part of them and teach what’s on their hearts too. That’s more important, in my opinion, than learning.”

While at the March for Our Lives, Gartley was taken aback by the powerful words from the young speakers, who she said were all under 18.

“Their speeches were all passionate and filled with love and compassion for future generations,” Gartley said. “They weren’t even just about gun violence in schools. It was about violence in communities.”

For Gartley, one of the most powerful speeches came from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King.

“I could imagine [Martin Luther King, Jr.] there, preaching about love, telling everyone to come together,” Gartley said. “My face was actually chapped from crying. I have had chapped lips before, but I have never had a chapped face.”

The next day, Gartley and her friend visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, which further solidified the words of his granddaughter. The monument showcases a 30-foot statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. carved into the “Stone of Hope,” which emerges from the “Mountain of Despair.”

After attending the March for Our Lives, Gartley made her own assessment of the monument.

“Even though we often feel stuck as if we’re in stone, there is a way out,” she said. “But the key is that you can’t stop preaching.”

Now that she has returned to her classroom,Gartley said she has a new outlook on teaching and life after attending the march in D.C. While the worry still sits in the back of her mind, she said she can now live out each day with a purpose.

“My trip was a constant reminder that I need to be doing this and I need to be aware of what’s happening,” she said. “I need to understand that there is suffering, but there is also tenderness.”

Gartley said she has also been able to enlighten her colleagues throughout this entire process, but even more so after attending the march.

However, more than anything, she wants to comfort those studying education at Waynesburg University like she was 10 years ago, and she wants them to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel—that is, if they choose to let it shine.

“At Waynesburg, you have to take the ‘Fiat Lux’ class, which means, ‘Be the light,’” Gartley said. “My words of wisdom are to keep that light burning as brightly as you can, and don’t let anybody blow it out. Don’t get discouraged when you see and hear these things happening. We need compassionate, loving brave teachers now more than we ever have.”