Chairs skidded over the floors and backpacks were zipped shut as hundreds of students left Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) on Jan. 30 during lunch, a customary practice, yet nothing was customary on this occasion. In mere minutes, hundreds of students filled what was empty space along the roundabout near 7/11 in Carbondale. They raised their voices and doodle-etched hands in protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and demanded to be heard.
It started peacefully.
Glenwood and Roaring Fork students met at the roundabout, held signs and played music as cars drove by. Before long, about 50 more from Colorado Rocky Mountain School walked along the road to join the growing group. It was a spectacle to behold, the intermingling of young people with many differences but common values — private school and public school students, theater kids and jocks.
“I think what [protest] does is it helps people who feel attacked, helps people who feel isolated feel a lot less lonely,” RFHS senior Sam Stableford told The Sopris Stars. “And it has very little to do with politics and actually a lot to do with making sure that people feel loved and supported.”
Just after noon, the police were tasked with a feat of convincing the scores of teenagers to relocate. Officers clearly stated that their right to assembly would be respected, but explained that gathering on the island in the middle of the roundabout was prohibited.
As time crawled on, passive protest was tested. Drivers made derogatory gestures and insults paraded down. While the majority of students retorted exclusively with verbal recourse, one threw a snowball at an SUV after a driver allegedly flashed the middle finger. The police intervened, reinstating that in order for protest to remain peaceful, physical altercation of any degree would not be tolerated.
Frieda Wallison of Pitkin Country Republicans later reflected on the effectiveness of assembly and ICE procedures in an interview with The Stars.
“Our legal immigration system is broken,” she said. “In many cases, the form of protest is counterproductive”. She provided the example of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minnesota. “It seemed to me that many of the protesters were acting in a violent manner, especially the woman who was killed … The [ICE] officers were threatened.”
While some Roaring Fork Valley residents disapproved of the student protest, more questioned teacher involvement. Many teachers took paid time off at Glenwood Springs High School, resulting in the closure of the school. Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole described the process of making the call to cancel school the night before.
“It was probably 10pm and we were kind of saying, ‘What’s the status? What are you hearing? How many staff do you have? How many subs do you have? Can we cross over? Can we send more people? What are our options to keep school open? Can we do this?’” she said. “What we ultimately decided as a team was that we did not have enough adults who could be present in the building to ensure a safe environment for the day.”
In the following days, complaints from parents were not exclusively of the district’s response to the events, but aired more on the side of teachers choosing not to go to work. One resident said on Facebook that “Teachers should model how to critically think through important events occurring in our country — including those that are politically biased. This involves teaching about these events, not advocating for them, while maintaining neutrality …”
Stableford, the son of a teacher, had a different take. “I think that educators, specifically, [being] able to voice their political opinion is not something that should be looked down upon,” he said.
At Roaring Fork, a group of teachers gathered together where students were being dropped off in front of the school in the morning, holding signs in support of all students, regardless of citizenship. Carmen McCracken was one of these teachers. When asked if she supported the student approach to these issues, she said, “I support students using their voice in order to create a change that they feel is necessary … I think that a part of being a citizen in a democracy is making your voice heard.” She also clarified, “I don’t, of course, support students who take that opportunity to [just] skip class.”
There was a little skepticism about some students’ motivation to join the walkout.
“Did some people just do the walkout to walk out of school?” Stableford wondered. “Did some people go because they were feeling angry? Did some people go because they were feeling scared? Did some people go because they genuinely believe in the cause?”
Student absences were not excused for the walkout, and some students were surprised and disappointed by this. But this, perhaps, gives deeper meaning to the power behind protest.
“Part of protest is we do it because we understand the consequences and we’re willing to take [the] sacrifice, right?” Cole said. “It makes a big statement when you accept those consequences. Rosa Parks didn’t think she was just going to go get some cute photos of herself sitting on the front of the bus and become famous. She went to jail [and] she knew that.”
Before closing out the interview, the superintendent said that “everyone’s a Ram” at Roaring Fork High School, no matter their political affiliation or immigration status.