Due to a positive and collaborative school environment, according to assistant principal Matt Haines, on February 27 Souderton students were able to exert their First Amendment right to protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Although not a school-sanctioned event, the ICE walkout took place in Souderton Area High School’s bus loop at 10:30 a.m.
Student organizer junior Patrick Kemp hopes that the protest will send a message to the larger Montgomery County community.
“We want our community to know that we do not stand with [ICE], nor will we ever,” Kemp said. “If we’re out here and we get one person talking about what we believe in, then we’ve achieved our goal of spreading the word.”
Junior Katie Shapella also believes that the protest was impactful, despite only having a small group of participants.
“Schools all over the country are doing [anti-ICE walkouts] and
I think showing our support for that movement is really important,” Shapella said.“Even if it’s small protests, it leads to big change. “I think even though it may have only been 40, 45 people, it was enough.”
Prior to the walkout, Kemp met with the high school’s administration to discuss the details along with consequences for students who chose to participate.
According to Haines, the meeting was a “good collaborative conversation.”
For Haines, this positivity is due to having a good relationship between students, staff, and the greater community. “We have a really good community, we have a really good student body and we have really good staff,” Haines said, “and if kids are able to have these kinds of conversations and want to engage us, that’s all good.”
Principal Sam Varano agrees.
“Open communication and transparent communication make people feel heard,” Varano said. “When people feel heard and understood, even if there’s no agreement, things are usually okay.”
According to Varano, the ICE walkouts were not encouraged by the administration, but still protected by administrative and security action.
“We [didn’t] endorse it or support it or authorize it, but we [did] everything we [could] to keep it safe, peaceful and respectful,” Varano said.
By having increased security, open communication and a safety plan, the administration was able to ensure student safety during the walkout and prevent violence.
“I think that it was really awesome that we had people protecting us,” freshman Juliana Landis said, “like the police officers.”
Shapella agrees.
“I think we’re very lucky to have security and that no violence broke out from counter protesters,” Shapella said.
Student participants faced disciplinary action for participating in the walkout.
All participants were given an after-school detention.
“We took it right out of our handbook,” Haines said. “The handbook punishment for cutting non-academic classes is after-school detention.”
Varano believes this punishment allowed participants to face consequences without being “squeezed too tight.”
“I don’t want anybody to feel like they’re being overly restricted here,” Varano said. “We want kids to feel free here.”