Friday marked National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and students at Longwood Prep Academy rallied alongside anti-gun violence prevention groups to rally against gun violence.

Scholars from the school's social justice classes organized this rally to help combat the gun violence surrounding them in the Longwood community and citywide. Teachers say that through this year, students have learned about the origins of social justice movements and conducted research on gun deaths in their community.

NYPD data shows that gun violence is down in the Bronx and that shooting incidents and victims are down since last year. There have been 115 shootings and 92 victims since the beginning of 2023.

Junior student Ashanti Acevedo says she wants to see a real difference made.

"Progress comes from actually seeing a change. So, statistics of decreased gun violence, better mindsets from the peers around me, that would prove to me that the change is actually being made in our community and that's what I'm rooting for, not just the talking," said Acevedo.

While today was a big step for the school's community, students and teachers say that they hope to continue doing rallies like this in their community to continue raising awareness.