A walkout organized by Dos Pueblos High School students will be held on Tuesday after first period. According to Isabel Vasquez (11), one of the students planning the walkout, they hope to inspire youth to speak out about their feelings.

“Obviously, hearing about the election, I felt very strongly,” Vasquez said. “But we want to make it clear that this walkout is not an anti-Trump rally, or whatever, it’s not like that. It’s more so that youth can feel they have a voice.”

Kassey Chacon (11), who worked with Vasquez while planning the walkout, has posted about the walkout on her Instagram. She has also provided a link for those interested in signing up to give a speech.

“We’re meeting in front of the B buildings in the little meadow area right after first period,” Vasquez said. “We’re walking to Evergreen Park. There’s going to be speeches, and we contacted some news so they could be there to report on it, and then that’s going to last until beginning of lunch.”

Vasquez said they planned to cover reproductive rights, immigration rights, climate change, and more. In her Instagram post, Chacon also mentions LGBTQ+ rights and access to healthcare.

As part of their preparation for the walkout, Vasquez and Chacon spoke to DPHS principal, Bill Woodard. He said that while the school “cannot support or condone” the walkout, he would support Vasquez and Chacon like any other student.

“I love that students express their first amendment rights and I encourage students to be active in our civic life,” Woodard said. “Our role as a school is not to stifle speech but to just keep the kids safe.”

Any student who wishes to participate in the walkout should either have their guardian notify the school or, if they are 18 or older, notify the school themself ahead of time. According to Education Code 48205, an excusal can be given for “the purpose of a middle school or high school pupil engaging in a civic or political event.”

“Walking out in protest, … it’s kind of a gray area,” Woodard said. “It doesn’t really count as a political event. But if you’re going to listen to speeches about the election or whatnot … you have to give prior notification.”

Both Vasquez and Woodard drew a connection between this walkout and one that happened in 2016, after Donald Trump won his first presidential election. Woodard said that he “wasn’t surprised” that students were walking out again, and Vasquez mentioned it as part of her initial motivation.

“That’s what really inspired us,” Vasquez said. “We know someone who led the 2016 walkout, and we realized that … [we’re] not allowed to vote. Obviously, we aren’t, if we’re under 18. So, you feel like, maybe, you don’t have a say in anything, because it’s the adults who vote.”

While Woodard said the walkout was “to protest the election,” Vasquez presented another reason for it.

“We want this rally to be more about, and the walkout to be more about, adults hearing our voices, and the audience and other youth to get inspired to speak out,” Vasquez said. “I hope to get our voices heard.”

Edited Nov. 8, 2024, for spelling and headline word choice.