Haverhill Students For Teachers Walk-Out

Haverhill+Students+For+Teachers+Walk-Out

Cameron MacKay and

The student body of Haverhill High school had finally had enough and called it time. Similar to the previous walkout back in February of this year at the Tewksbury Memorial High School, the student body of Haverhill High school had finally decided to take action, rallying up as many students as possible to participate in it’s StudentForTeacher (SFT) walk-out. Students are taking a stand for their teachers and overall are showing their support for the betterment of their school.

In situations involving the teachers contracts, a common misconception has been people thinking teachers want more money which couldn’t be further from the truth. They are doing everything they can to give us students the most normal school year possible, despite how rough the pandemic made it. Being forced to sign a contract may give even less than before, due to inflation, isn’t right.  The teachers of Haverhill High school are unable to bring forth the topic to students, let alone go on strike and advocate for themselves. As the Haverhill staff remains walking on eggshells, the students watch from afar, walking out and protesting with full support and intent of change for their teachers.

Students were in fact receiving emails from the principal, threatening those who did choose to take part in the walkout. These actions did not strike the fear into the students as much as hoped, seeing they agreed and prepared to accept whatever consequences were to be thrown their way. When getting the word out to fellow classmates the student body did in fact make sure to give all peers a reminder that as long as their is a good amount of people and the strike remains peaceful, it would be practically impossible to get into any real trouble. They were even sure to post it on their Instagram. Their Instagram goes into depth, explaining everything regarding the event. Following up with some of the basics such as the why, what, who, when, where, and how.

The students walked out in the middle of class. The students figured it would be better to do this during a passing block or a time that would’t be so chaotic and less disruptive, but then they started to do a little more thinking. They realized the middle of class would be a perfect time it’ll help prove their point better, show that they are truly serious and are there to support their teachers and fix the school they attend everyday. Regardless of the emails sent out threatening to cut kids from sports teams, all the other 200+ students were able to manage walking out peacefully holding up signs and banners.

Despite managing successful peaceful protests, Administrators took down the names of students, holding the 200+ detention for bringing awareness to an issue that is being swept under the rug. Moving forward, they plan to attend the next Haverhill School Committee meeting on Thursday, October 13 at 7 pm at City Hall to speak about the issue. They will be talking to administrators, teachers, and fellow students about what else can be changed in their school and how they can make it happen.