Durham School of the Arts Students Stage Walkout for Climate Action

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Good morning, readers.

Durham School of the Arts students joined a nationwide wave of school walkouts for climate action on Friday.

But while similar demonstrations across the country took direct aim at Donald Trump’s reelection, DSA’s Sunrise Movement chapter, which organized the walkout, is keeping its eyes on something closer to home: pushing for a “Green New Deal for Schools” across DPS.

“For our context, it was important to us to focus on action and what we can do, and less on the candidate as an individual,” junior Sarah Rodrigues told me. The students’ agenda includes demands for safe and clean buildings (a pressing concern given DSA’s aging infrastructure), a “climate justice curriculum,” and plans to use schools as community recovery zones during climate disasters.

The initiative took shape after DSA students linked up with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Sunrise hub. As Rodrigues put it, they’ve graduated from “doing, like, recycling and community service” to pushing actual policy.

Principal Jackie Tobias worked with students to plan the walkout, which conveniently aligned with a class change so students only missed about 10 minutes of instruction time.

“I am extremely proud of our students for using their voices and knowledge to make a difference,” Tobias wrote in a statement to the INDY. “This is precisely what we desire.” 

Have a good Wednesday.

—Lena

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