A group of students gets up in the morning, jumping into the expected cycle of every school day--but today, the school they go to is part of a larger, terrifying cycle of mass shootings. In a series of connected scenes and monologues that occur before, during, and after the event, young people of all stripes piece together what is happening and why. Some students reach out to loved ones, while others help each other through panic. Some imagine their futures--if they live to see them--and some piece together what has happened in the frantic moments afterwards. With fire, humor, and power, Declaration gives students a voice to ask whether the promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" can be fulfilled, crouched behind a barricaded classroom door.