Students at Central High School staged a walkout Tuesday to show their support for immigrants amid increased federal enforcement in the U.S.
Sophomore Jesse Miller organized the event with the help of fellow students.
“I want to send the message that immigrants helped to build our country, and everybody belongs on this land no matter who they are,” she said. “And I want to make sure that everybody is able to live their lives and that everybody belongs here.”
Miller and the other students met with administrators to get permission and to make sure they were following district rules.
According to district rules, “Springfield Public Schools is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students and will continue to commit the resources necessary to ensure student safety while honoring the rights of individual students to engage in personal expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The First Amendment protects the free speech rights of all Americans, including the rights of students in the public schools. This may, from time to time, include non-verbal actions which constitute speech, such as walk-outs or sit-ins. These rights, however, are not unlimited and must conform to legal, ethical, social, and school district norms and expectations which assist with ensuring student safety and with ensuring an environment that is conducive to learning.”
Vivian Donnell was one of the organizers. Donnell said many of her friends are non-native English speakers.
“They deserve to be seen and heard, and so a lot of them were really scared to go up and do this,” she said, “and so we wound up just doing whatever we could to make it easier for them to be able to go out and say what they wanted to be said.”
CHS Principal Jeremy Brown addressed the crowd of students gathered on the south lawn of the school and thanked them for their courage.
Some community members stood on sidewalks around the school in support of the students, including Christine Schilling.
“I want to let them know that there are some adults in the room who care about building a world that is healthy and loving and strong.”
Dominique Moore with the Southern Missouri Immigration Alliance was also there in support of the students and told them through a loudspeaker that she was proud of them.
“This is a moment of a wake-up call for our younger population here,” she said. “And whether they know it or not they are now leading the youth movement with this action today.”
She said she wants the students to know there’s a place for them if they want to get more active once they graduate.
