In December of 2019, senior Catherine Richards wanted to start an activism group in Wilmette for students, but she didn’t know for what. After collaborating on a Civics project with her friend and classmate, junior Annabel Miller, Richards found her subject: Stronger gun legislation.

The two ended up establishing a Students Demand Action (SDA) group in Wilmette to recruit North Shore students in the fight to end gun violence. SDA is a part of a larger gun control organization called Everytown, along with Moms Demand Action and Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Richards and Miller have grown up amidst constant news of gun violence in our nation’s schools. Instances such as Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland have established the ever-present possibility of experiencing a school shooting.

However, instead of solely dwelling on their fear of gun violence, Richards and Miller focused on enacting stronger gun legislation.

“There’s so many laws that should be put in place that just haven’t been. I just have never really understood why; they’re common sense gun laws,” said Miller.

The application process to establish an SDA group in Wilmette ended up taking Richards and Miller about three months. The extensive process included background checks, a bunch of forms, and finding a sponsor. 

Initially, they planned to run the club through the school with the Student Activities Department sponsoring the group. 

But, after speaking to the department, they learned it would be best to not do so.

“We would have more limited options on what we can do because it’s such a political group…we couldn’t do a lot of the events we wanted to,” said Richards.

So, they decided to run SDA Wilmette outside of school with Miller’s mother, Shoshana Buchholz-Miller, serving as the sponsor, even though she’s not very involved with the group.

“They have all been so independent and self-motivated; they really haven’t needed me to do anything,” said Miller’s mother. “They are very committed…They are willing to do it all: sit at a booth at a farmer’s market…as well as host a virtual webinar.”

Nonetheless, Richards and Miller have not been left completely alone with their leadership duties.

“The Moms Demand Action group in Winnetka has been really helpful,” said Miller.

Also, according to Richards, the larger SDA group has been very supportive throughout the process. They have held Zooms for all the SDA leaders, connected Richards and Miller with other leaders in the area, and provided links to sign up for various events. 

The Wilmette group is currently made up of about 80 students, which also includes the leadership board. Miller and Richards communicate with them largely through Zooms, texting, and Remind.

Over the course of the last few months, they’ve held a variety of community outreach and gun control events including a charity drive, phone banking, letter-writing campaigns, and canvassing.

For the events, attendance tends to vary. According to Miller, “not everybody on Remind comes to events all the time.”

“There’s probably 40 solid people coming every time or as much as they can,” said Richards, “And then there’s some people I think that just want to be involved and informed.”

Junior Keely Roberts, who is a member of the SDA Wilmette leadership board and a friend to Miller and Richards, applauds the leaders’ work.

“They’re really appreciative of everyone’s efforts,” said Roberts, “They’re very good at making you want to take action, and they’re very clear and decisive and organized.”

While it is only the beginning of SDA Wilmette, Richards and Miller can already feel the impact of the experience.

Richards said she used to feel uncomfortable about public speaking. However, now, she has a newfound confidence when speaking to a large audience, a change she attributed to her SDA leadership role.

Miller would also consider this experience to be very impactful. 

According to Miller, with SDA, she finally has an outlet to exercise her political interests and to assist in the fight for better gun legislation. Seeing her friends and family get involved in an issue that she’s passionate about has been meaningful for her, she said.

Richards said that this experience has given her faith in the potential for our nation in the future.

“It’s shown me there’s so many politically-engaged people, especially young people in the country, and it’s so powerful,” said Richards, “They all come together and create change; it’s really inspirational.”