HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a week of noes, Hattie Martinek and Julia Garnett finally got their yeses early Monday morning.

“We asked and originally we were told that we would need to say something either before or after school,” said Garnett. “But after the walkouts were announced in Nashville, we continued to push to be able to walk out.”

Outside in the Hendersonville High School garden is where their classmates all came together to hear what they had to say.

“This is not just a walkout,” said Garnett. “This is not a get out of class excuse. This means so much more than all of us.”

Garnett’s peers listened, as she spoke about the lives taken last Monday at the Covenant School in Nashville.

They also held a moment of silence for six minutes, allowing students the opportunity to reflect, pray, and cry as the emotions rolled through.

“It was just another reminder that this could have been us, and it hits really close to home because it was close to home,” said Garnett.

Martinek also spoke pushing through her pain to advocate for more change.

“I hope these students take what was said today and this experience and they go forth and they make change in the future, and they keep pushing for issues like this,” she said.

Both teens said this walkout was symbolic.

“It really showed that students’ voices do matter, and that we can come together and we can make change and it needs to happen more often,” said Martinek.

And it’s just the beginning of the change both teens say they’ll continue to fight for.

“This should be the last shooting,” said Garnett. “There shouldn’t be another one and unfortunately it’s hard to control that, but we’re going to keep pushing for changes. We’re not going to stop and we’re going to be the change we want to see in the world.”