On February 17th, STEAM students held an ICE walkout outside of STEAM Academy that started at 10:30 am and lasted a little over half an hour. Students from all grade levels walked out of the building with signs and flags to protest the tactics of ICE that led to the deaths of community activists Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were both US citizens engaging in protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
ICE’s Immigration Enforcement tactics have been called into question all around the U.S., and were recently scrutinized by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on The View. Beshear noted, “Every ICE agent should be withdrawn from every city and every community that they’re in,” he said. “This organization has to be reformed from the top down.”
This walkout was organized by freshman Alex Stillwell. He was inspired by other High Schools engaging in ICE protests. He noted in an interview, “So I had seen a bunch of posts about it from other schools, like friends from other schools.” Which then led him to organize a protest here at STEAM. Students were hesitant at first to participate due to possible suspension or other consequences. This led to Alex to request a meeting with Dr. Flores to find a common ground for students to protest and express themselves.
Dr. Flores wrote to STEAM families and stakeholders after the walk out, “At STEAM, we aim to foster an environment where students feel empowered to engage with the world around them. In alignment with Kentucky’s commitment to student rights (KRS 158.183), we recognize that our students are developing their own voices as members of the community. We appreciate the respectful manner in which our students conducted themselves today”.
Alex was asked how he felt the protest turned out and he said “I have mixed feelings about it. I would say, I’m pretty proud of the fact that so many people got together.” While Alex felt the message could have had a larger impact, he still emphasized the importance of students uniting to express their beliefs.
