Although a student protest at KJHS on March 17 was brought to a halt after the arrival of local police and TV news crews, the protest didn't end when the students walked back inside on Friday, the day before spring break.
The following evening, 24 windows were broken, causing $1,650 in damage. The matter is currently being investigated by Kalispell Police, which declined to give details of the investigation.
The protest followed the eighth-and ninth-grade talent show, which was cut short when freshman Zach Mahon pulled out a fake gun on stage to make his anti-suicide speech more dramatic.
"I intended it to be motivational and live life to its fullest," said Mahon. "There was a miscommunication among the teachers, so they got scared and thought I might kill myself."
Principal Moselle DePriest, however, thought the gun was inappropriate and ended the assembly immediately.
"There were adults and students who felt Zach was actually going to kill himself," said DePriest. "In my opinion, there is no place for a fake gun in school. Zach's intention was to make it dramatic. He felt he had permission."
Apparently, there was a mistake made by a faculty member who didn't realize Mahon's intentions, said Depriest.
According to DePriest, false rumors quickly circulated that Mahon and others would be suspended for their acts. As a result, about 30 students stayed outside when A lunch was over and remained for B lunch as well.
Somehow the T.V. crews were contacted about the ensuing protest and students got riled up, said DePriest.
Mixed reactions came from the student body.
"I thought it was kind of stupid," said freshman Heather Smith. "Half of them were out there just to get out of class."
"I thought it was really silly they made it way out of proportion to what it really was," said freshman CaCe Hardy. "The talent show, when they look back at it, they won't remember all the talent, but what went wrong."
On Monday, in an effort to put things to rest, DePriest and Mahon spent all day in the library discussing what happened with the students.
"I am not blaming the students; I think they believed it (their talent skits) was okay," said DePriest. "Talent shows are a good thing for students. Unfortunately, this thing had a sour ending."