Peaceful walkout makes public point; 1 arrested Spurred to action after years of standing by helplessly, an empathetic teen organized a student walkout at Point Loma High School (PLHS) last week to peaceably protest budget cuts and pink slips handed out annually to Pointer staff members. In her three years at PLHS, junior Victoria Gonzalez and her peers watched in silence as some of their favorite teachers and campus employees were dispatched in June after receiving pink slips in the spring. Many targeted staff members were young, some just several years into their careers, who had bought homes or were expecting additions to their families. Gonzalez cited English teacher Yolanda Beltran and math teacher Raymond Hilbert as recent examples of beloved mentors who would be lost under current budget plans. Of Beltran, Gonzalez said, “She made our class so much fun, so interesting and was so passionate about her teaching.” Hilbert, a member of the Mesa College faculty, teaches a college-credit calculus course on the PLHS campus. “All Mr. Hilbert thinks about is how much he wants us to succeed,” Gonzalez said. “He takes the time every day because he wants us to learn, not because it’s his job.” With such teachers in mind, Gonzalez decided to take a deeper look. “I talked to some of my teachers and really empathized with them,” Gonzalez said. “We don’t truly realize what it’s like to go through these things, and it inspired me to do a walkout because it’s a great way for us to show the teachers we understand where they’re coming from, that this is their story and it’s affecting them.” “Why wouldn’t we want to use our voices to show our support for them?” Gonzalez asked. So Gonzalez organized a walkout by hundreds of her fellow Pointer classmates to call attention to the plight of many teachers and classified employees at her school who are now holding pink slips. On June 6, a crowd of about 500 students moved toward the school entrance on Chatsworth Boulevard, crossed the street and took up positions in front of a Christian Science church. Many others watched from campus as San Diego police and San Diego Unified School District officers halted traffic when necessary to ensure the safety of students. “We heard about it 10 minutes before the event started,” said PLHS Principal Bobbie Samilson, who believes students used social networking sites to publicize their plans. Police were immediately notified and put in place. “The students were mostly yelling, ‘We love our teachers,’” said Samilson. She characterized the students’ actions “well-behaved and respectful,” and said student safety was her top concern. After a television news crew left, Samilson — who is also well-liked by PLHS students — walked over to speak with the walkout’s participants. “I told them how much I appreciated them expressing themselves and their concerns for teachers, but it was time to go back to class and they were willing to do so,” she said. A subgroup of about 150 students, however, instead opted to walk toward Correia Middle School to share their message. Correia was placed on lockdown and police officers maintained order. “All those students have been dealt with and received consequences,” Samilson said. Gonzalez expressed dismay with the splinter group, especially when she learned one freshman threw a rock at a police car, resulting in his arrest. “I was really disappointed about that,” Gonzalez said, “because it decreases our credibility. We were making a point, not trying to vandalize anything or hurt the police.” Since the walkout, Gonzalez has been partnering with Samilson to develop other strategies to bring the strong feelings of students to decision-makers. Gonzalez plans to organize a letter-writing campaign to local and state board of education members and others with power. She said she is also looking forward to working with PLHS video-production students and staff to create a video about the issues that could be shown to wide-ranging audiences.
