April 18 started out much quieter than usual. It was the eighth annual Day of Silence, a day where students and faculty didn’t speak to let people whose voices have been silenced by bullying know they are not alone.

“I think [the Day of Silence] makes people stop and think,” senior Diversity Club president Ariana Keyser said. “It might not make a visible difference in the way people act, but even if they’re  talking to you and making fun of you because you’re being quiet they only did that because they noticed that you were taking a stand for something, and so they’ll at least have to think about the message behind it.”

The Day of Silence begins when school starts. Participants and supporters wear stickers or T-shirts to support everyone’s right to be who they are. After school, participants celebrate with a Breaking of the Silence.During the Breaking of the Silence, participants gather together to share their experiences with being silent throughout the day and talk about what it meant to participate. There is also food, and the idea is to be loud.

Participation in the Day of Silence has ranged everywhere from 20 to 250 WHS participants. This year, Diversity Club Adviser Danielle Schafer-Cloke believes that there were 40 silent participants and 150 supporters. There were also ten sponsors, who appeared on the back of the shirt.

“It’s really hard to go all day without talking especially when teachers ask you questions,” sophomore Kayli Brown said. Brown did not participate this year, but did last year.  “I totally support it and everything but it’s really hard… if a lot more people did it then it’d be okay because everyone would be expected to be quiet but since most of the school doesn’t know about it or doesn’t care its not as big. It’s more of a salute to the people that have been silenced by bullying rather than a choice.”

“The Day of Silence is incredibly personal for me. I have relatives who are gay, and several of my close friends are gay,” said Schafer-Cloke. “I’ve also seen some of my students struggle with how to deal with their peers and even other teachers at school when they’ve come out as gay. I truly believe that the Day of Silence has made a difference at WHS.”

The first Day of Silence in 2006 was full of controversy, and some parents even pulled their students out of school that day, Schafer-Cloke said. Other students wore distasteful and offensive shirts, in effect proving WHS needed a Day of Silence, according to Schafer-Cloke.

Diversity Club has made the Day of Silence one of the main focuses of the club. It was started to recognize LGBT students who had not come out and were silenced by their fear of reactions from others. Today, the Day of Silence is to support people who have been bullied for any reason.

“WHS [now] appears to be a more accepting place to go to school,” Schafer-Cloke said. “I can’t wait for the day when we don’t need a Day of Silence at all.”