As a high schooler on Vashon, I was one of the many students in attendance at the walkout. On the morning of Wednesday the 11th, a large group of students from the three Vashon public schools flooded the four corners with loud voices.

Yells of “ICE out!” and “immigrants are welcome here!” could be heard all throughout town. Filled with frustration aimed at Immigration Control, bags of ice were dumped out onto the street by groups of students.

“It was super empowering and inspirational, we had a big turnout and it gave me a sense of hope seeing young leaders come together to fight for a good cause,” said Rose, a freshman at Vashon High School.

The street was full of supportive honking from drivers and drumming by two people from Vashon Indivisible. The protest lasted about three hours, and the walkout was organized by a group of eighth graders from McMurray Middle School, and spread via word of mouth and social media. Students from both the high school and the middle school attended the walkout, and a few elementary students were taken out of school by parents or guardians to attend the protest.

“It was nice to see people that you don’t normally interact with in school all agreeing and working together for one cause,” said Juno, a freshman at Vashon High School.

We brought homemade signs and sadness for our immigrant friends in an awe-inspiring display of compassion and empathy.

“It was a good learning experience to bond with people from our school,” said Aaron, a sophomore.

Although a few students went to the Seahawks parade, the turnout was outstanding, and most classes only had 10 or less students attending, I was really surprised.

After dumping ice on the road, a sophomore, Star, reminded students that even though we were frustrated, people were driving on the roads, and urged the students to remove the larger ice chunks off of the road to prevent damage or harm, while keeping the symbolic value.

“I made the firm decision to do my part and show up for the walk out, for I find it compulsory to the action of making change … It doesn’t matter how small a community is, it will be impacted … despite how easy it feels to get overwhelmed in that sensation of powerlessness, we must not stand down in fear,” Star said.

The atmosphere was so welcoming and passionate, with bystanders cheering and even crying seeing how heated the younger generations are about the injustice. It really is important that us youth stand up, and I think it’s important that adults know we care about these issues.

“Hearing and seeing our kids out on the street with signs and horns and voices raised in solidarity with one another against the fascism they can see happening around them- this was balm for the soul of a lover in this community,” said island local Erin Durrett.

“These are our kids, and they stand together — some proclaiming their pride in their brown skin, some pouring ice in the middle of the road so cars could drive over it, all cheering when big trucks driven by guys on their way to do heavy labor honked long and proud! Pride, love and joy to every young person who raised their voice and every teacher and parent that supported them,” continued Durrett.

Overall, the protest was a well attended success commended by so many, and surely something to take pride in! I’m proud to be one of the high schoolers who went, and hope we made a difference.

Carter Harmon is a ninth-grader at Vashon High School and a writer for the school’s newspaper, The Riptide.