You're never too young to make a difference. At a peace rally on Wednesday, Syracuse City School District students proved the power of community.

Students chanted a rallying cry: “SCSD! Standing up for you and me!”

"Just to stop the violence and the gangs and all that,” said Qaadir Betts, an eighth grader at Clary Middle School. “Just to nip it all in the bud and end it for good."

Clary Middle School hosted a peace rally, Wednesday morning, and invited students from Danforth and Corcoran too.

"It was a lot of murders back to back due to violence and we all came up with the idea that we should do something about it,” said Iyanla Jennings, an eighth grader at Clary Middle School. “Because you never know what could happen. Things happen out of the blue you never know."

The 16 students in Jodi Ackermann's homeroom class rallied together in October. They start each day with a restorative circle where they share what’s on their mind. One day one of their classmates came to school distraught after her cousin was killed the night before.

"We encouraged her to talk about it to get it off her chest,” said Betts. “That's what we do. Our classroom is like family. We fight and argue, but we make a way to come back as one."

Last year, there were ten people 19 or younger murdered in Syracuse. That prompted the class to take action, to show the power of community and to call for a change. In response, they wrote to Mayor Ben Walsh.

"We can't do it alone,” said Walsh. “We have to do it together. We need to make sure we're listening to you all."

"They struggle in life but then you see that and you're like that's why,” said Ackermann. “That's we do it. I mean they were so excited. You could see it on their face. You could hear them. They felt heard which is what I think is important."

Students hope this peace rally is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation. They're hoping to continue to promote peace in the community and grow the event to include more schools and more grades.