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CMS Students Walk Out In Support Of Immigrants

Still from Twitter Video by @ajcookcsa

Students at four CMS schools walked out of class Friday in support of area immigrants. South Mecklenburg High School dismissed classes early after several students say peaceful demonstrations got out of hand.  

Videos of South Meck's walkout posted on Twitter show hundreds of students outside. 

Junior Gletzy Alas helped organize South Meck's walkout. Her parents are immigrants from Honduras.

"I just tried to get my message across so it could touch people’s heart, inspire maybe the teachers to even listen to us and hear where we come from," said Alas. "A lot of teachers don’t even understand us when we’re depressed or sad or when we don’t come to school because we’re scared ICE is going to come up and take us." 

Alas says students felt more comfortable when CMS Superintendent Ann Clark reassured them this week that ICE would not target schools. For that reason, she thought school was a good place to express their 

Credit Lisa Worf / WFAE
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WFAE
Junior Gletzy Alas (right) helped organize the walkout at South Mecklenburg High School. Her friend sophomore Sonia Calzada was part of it.

feelings. She didn't expect the walkout to become so chaotic.

CMS will not take any disciplinary action against students who protested peacefully. However, CMS said those who became disorderly will be "disciplined sympathetically, but firmly in accordance with the CMS Code of Student Conduct." 

Students also walked out at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, Cochrane Collegiate Academy, and the Olympic Community Schools. 

Lisa Worf traded the Midwest for Charlotte in 2006 to take a job at WFAE. She worked with public TV in Detroit and taught English in Austria before making her way to radio. Lisa graduated from University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English.