About 25 students ended their lunch hour and left the school building to stand in the sub-zero cold by the large sign at the front of the school. Speakers took on the issues of abortion rights, racism, climate change and tribal rights.
Dylan Taylor-Jammers, who said one of her parents voted for Trump, said she was walking out because she feared the next administration would restrain her civil rights.
“Trump has shown a lot of racism and misogyny and homophobia and transphobia. I believe that my rights as a queer female minor, I will be impacted and my friends will be impacted,” Taylor-Jammers said.
Aster Bent, who invited her mother to the demonstration, told her peers a little history of women’s voting, health and economic rights. She named five women who she said have died because abortion bans in their states interfered with their health care.
“I am standing here today because I have to honor all the women who have fought for my rights. I cannot ignore women in my country who are suffering,” Bent said.
Scarlett Nation told her peers she feared a roll-back on climate policies to protect the Arctic.
“More than 30 native villages across Alaska are either currently relocating their communities or are in need of relocating. Our communities are being hit by record breaking wildfires and high temperatures,” Nation said.
Student body president Timothy Hall said the demonstrators weren’t denying the election results.
“We understand how elections work. We understand who wins them. And what we understand and can change is how we deal with those outcomes. And so when we're done today, just make sure to carry this passion to everyone you know to make the world a better place tomorrow,” Hall. said
Daniel Cheney criticized the president-elect’s economic policies, and told his peers to put their energy into positive action.
“Trump’s policies are not based on austere good business and sound investment. Trump's policies are based on hate. Much word has been shed about the purpose of this walkout. Why would we protest something we can't change? Why waste our energy on something we can do nothing about? We're all standing out here in the cold because we don't want to live in a country where hate wins,” Cheney said.
Not everyone outdoors was opposed to Trump’s campaign promises, or supportive of gay rights. A Trump 2024 flag emerged from the middle of the group, but not for long. And the driver of a truck circling the parking lot nearby yelled epithets at the assembly.
Dylan Taylor-Jammers and Wyatt Brun requested their peers to be resilient in the face of any fears they feel.
Taylor-Jammers: “I really hope things won't be as bad as we see, but it likely will. So, I just want to tell you guys to please, please survive. Just you have to make it through.”
Brun: “It's not the answer to end it all. Okay?”
