DENVER (KDVR) — A recent graduate of Denver East High School is among those leading the charge for campus safety reform.

Sofia Joucovsky graduated from the school in May of 2022. In her senior year, she founded the student-run advocacy and action club.

She thinks the Denver Public Schools’ decision to implement school resource officers is a temporary one.

“I truly think if we want safety in our schools,” she said, “it’s gonna have to come from a national level.”

The 18-year-old’s younger sister Julia, a current student at East, said teachers need to feel safe too.

“I think we deserve to have a plan, and, I think they (educators) deserve to know the plan, too,” Julia said.

Joucovsky also believes there should only be one entrance and one exit to the East High School building.

Students, teachers march at Capitol

Joucovsky and her family aren’t the only East High students advocating for change at the school. Hundreds of students, families and staff marched at the Capitol to have their voices heard by lawmakers.

The rally was the second in a row as students marched Wednesday and even cornered some lawmakers with questions about their opposition to gun laws.

“They just need to get passed. I mean anything at this point. We see how much this affects our community and how much could be passed, there is no reason not to pass these bills,” East sophomore Stella Kaye told FOX31’s Gabrielle Franklin Wednesday.

The parents, students and staff were pushing lawmakers to approve three gun bills that have been proposed in the legislature this session.

One bill would up the age to purchase a firearm to 21, another would give victims of gun violence the ability to sue the gunmakers, and the other would add professions like teachers and mental health experts to the list of people who can petition for an extreme risk protection order under the state’s red flag law.