GP Comp students walkout in support of teachers

Student Council President for the Comp, EJ Igao says this was not in any way affiliated with the teachers or the school, but instead was entirely student-led with the newly-formed Alberta Student Association.

“Our own education’s at risk. For the past 3 weeks, we’ve been off of school. Our learning has been impacted and they’re (teachers) the ones that are actually there for us. They may be at school 8 hours a day for the actual teaching part. But before that, they have really early mornings, they have really late evenings, they have to prep after school. They have to take time out of their own personal time to mark assessments, create lesson plans… they just do so much for us. And they’re the ones that are actually invested in us as human beings. They’re the ones that ask, how are you doing today? They actually care about us. So since they care for us, we care for them. We stand with them, we support them.”

EJ Igao, president of the Grande Prairie Composite Student Council, speaking during student walkout on Oct. 30 in support of Alberta teachers. Photo by Erika Rolling.

Igao, who is a grade 12 student, urges the province to make diplomas optional this semester after missing three weeks of instruction time.

“Even one day of class in high school is a lot to miss. So, 3 weeks, just, I can’t even imagine how much time we have to catch up and how much to really speed up. So even though we took the time out of our class time today to walk out, we know that this is a good cause, and we know that this is much bigger than us, even our own learning goals.”

He notes Friday is when report cards are due, and would not give the provincial government a good grade when it comes to the handling of bargaining with teachers for a new deal.

“Students are worried about their future, students don’t want their rights to be taken away when they get into the workforce, and even now. I’m glad that we are here today and still have the right to come out here, protest, to walkout, and to associate and have freedom of expression.”

Grande Prairie Composite student walkout/peaceful protest for Alberta teachers on Oct. 30. Photo by Erika Rolling.

But, he was happy with the turnout of brave students at the school who walked out.

“I’m really glad that we had this much support here. A lot of people were asking me, oh, how many people do you think are actually coming? And I told them, I don’t like that question because if you want to know how many people are actually coming, it starts with you. Just be the first person to stand up and walk out. Be the first person to inspire everyone else to stand and support the teachers in solidarity and everyone else will follow.”

Grade 12 student Imogen Hudyma Yungwirth spoke at the walkout, and said how deeply class sizes have affected the quality of her education.

Last year, I was in a class with 37 kids, and we worked in, like, what was basically an office space… and it was one of the better behaved classes. So I can’t imagine what would happen if a teacher had to deal with 37 kids who weren’t really listening to them in a class of that size. So that’s one of the things we’re protesting.”

GP Composite High School Grade 12 student Imogen Hudyma Yungwirth speaks in front of fellow schoolmates during student walkout on Oct. 30 in support of Alberta teachers. Photo by Erika Rolling.

Yungwirth, who is in the IB program, also noted how she feels it’s unjust that the province passed Bill 2 to get teachers back to work and students in the classrooms again.

“(Premier) Danielle Smith has passed a law that, like, violates our rights as Canadian citizens, just for teachers asking for a little bit more, and a little smaller classes. It’s something that we as students, especially me and the other people who planned this (walkout), are the students who really prioritize education, it is deeply affecting our education.”

She too was happy with the turnout of students who joined in the walkout.

“It was really nice to see how many people support us. I always say that if there’s a protest and 50 people show up, that means 5 times that actually support it, but most people aren’t really brave enough or comfortable enough to show up. So seeing so many people show up makes me think that there must be a lot more in the school who support teachers, but who just maybe weren’t comfortable showing up, had a class that they couldn’t miss, or something along those lines. I’ve heard a lot of kids who couldn’t show up just because the teachers; like we were just off for two weeks, and now we are having to rush, because we can’t slack on school.”

Imogen also said there was a vast range of students that walked out, not just from certain classes or grades, but a broad spectrum of learners.

Grande Prairie Composite student walkout/peaceful protest for Alberta teachers on Oct. 30. Photo by Erika Rolling.

Multiple walkouts were held across the province today by students.

Igao wanted to make clear that they were all coordinated by students and not by teachers, the ATA, nor schools.

by Erika Rolling