Sonoma Valley students headed to Washington, D.C. to press for gun control

Fourteen kids from Sonoma Valley High School will be among the half-million people expected to march in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to demand new government action on gun control.

Sonoma resident Wendy Westerbeke, a sponsor of the group, said she was so inspired by the eloquent, passionate students who spoke up in the wake of the deadly Florida school shooting attack last month that she committed $15,000 to support sending local students to the demonstration.

Members of the Sonoma community have since raised donations to cover about two-thirds of the cost of the trip.

“I think it’s touched everyone - this whole movement,” said Westerbeke, 67, who runs a conference and retreat center on family-owned land west of Sonoma.

“And the kids are going to lead us in this.”

A pair of local rallies are also planned Saturday in downtown Sonoma and Santa Rosa.

The 14 students bound for the nation’s capital are mostly seniors. They are slated to board a plane early today for the trip.

About half of them take part in the campus Model United Nations Club or have participated in service trips to Latin America, said Cian Martin, 17.

They’re interested in politics and activism and making change, he said.

“I could march here, and it would be fine,” Martin said.

“But if I go to Washington, I’m playing a more active role in this chance and my voice can be heard more loudly.”

Ali Declercq, 17, credits the election of Donald Trump for her “political awakening” and hopes to return from Washington newly inspired, with fresh ideas to share with her community about advancing gun safety.

“I think we’re the right generation to do it,” she said.

“I’ve grown up in a culture where it’s not abnormal for a school shooting to come up in the news,” Martin said. “With Parkland, I was obviously sad, but I wasn’t shocked.”

“Growing up in that sort of culture makes us sick,” he continued.

“We don’t know any different, but we know that’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

The Sonoma Valley Democrats will host a March for Our Lives rally from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday on the Sonoma Plaza.

A similar event is planned in Santa Rosa beginning at 10 a.m. in Old Courthouse Square.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.