Nearly 200 students and faculty gathered at 6 a.m. to walk to from the old Price Chopper parking lot at Pflumm and Shawnee Mission Parkway to school for the people displaced in Uganda.

Walkers wore black shirts with a red duct tape “X” taped on, symbolizing displacement.

“The red X symbolizes that we displaced ourselves this morning and the extra hour of sleep we lost,” Adam Chase, leader of Coalition, said.

Chase started the walk by kneeling on a dusty blue Equinox and gave a short address on why Coalition put on the walk.

“This is a quote by John Lennon,” Chase said. “‘A dream you dream alone may be a dream, but a dream you dream together is reality.’ The purpose of this walk is to get everyone on the same page, to dream the same dream. We’re here because we’re the dreamers, the lovers, who are not afraid to care.”

Alex Linderer and Janelle Taylor started “The Walk” three years ago, with about 150 participants.

“Alex and Janelle approached me about starting a Coalition,” sponsor Lindsay Kincaid said. “They were just two kids who started this movement in our school.”

Originally, “The Walk” was started to raise awarness about children in Uganda who walk miles every night to find a safe place to sleep. Children don’t walk anymore, but there are still people who are displaced, which is why “The Walk” continues.

“This is one event that’s not to raise funds, but to raise awareness,” Kincaid said.

Each Shawnee Mission high school has a Coalition club, and every club participated in the walk this morning.

“It’s not just our school,” Chase said during his address. “It’s not just us.”

-Lauren Komer