GARY | Students at the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary were working on an anti-violence campaign for war-torn Darfur recently when they began asking questions.

"Some of the kids were questioning why we do this campaign when there is so much violence in their own community," said Amy Reiter, a ninth-grade history teacher.

Reiter and other teachers asked the students what they wanted to do to draw attention to the violence in Gary, which has seen 15 homicides so far this year.

"At first, it was just an assembly with speakers and we later decided to march, going around the city with banners and getting the community involved," Reiter said.

Reiter said that while Thea Bowman has not lost any students to violence, it has nonetheless had an impact on the school.

"I have heard from students that their families have been directly impacted," she said. "We have kids from broken families because mom or dad has been killed by gang violence or they've lost siblings to gangs and drugs."

The march is scheduled to begin at the school at 975 W. Sixth Ave. at 1 p.m. Friday. Students will return to the school's gymnasium afterward for an assembly.