Back in January, multiple Renton High School students gathered together in the commons and held a student-led voice rally to share their experiences and demand change at RHS. The idea that sparked this rally developed after a student witnessed a teacher using offensive and racially insensitive language in class. In reaction to this, they created an anonymous Instagram account to share their story. This caught the attention of multiple RHS students and many of them felt comfortable enough to come forward with their experiences with the same teacher and one other. Seeing that there were other people with similar experiences throughout the school alarmed the students and they decided to organize a demonstration to show the staff at RHS that they need to take action.

On the day of the rally, two student journalists, Daniya and Gavin took the opportunity to report on this important event. They arrived at the commons 45 minutes before the event was scheduled to start. There were several students making posters and having meaningful conversations about why they were there and what they thought might happen during the rally.

Gavin’s POV:

Daniya and I decided to take the downtime before the event started to conduct a few short interviews with the students that were there to help set it up. The first students we interviewed were Maya B. and Diana N. When asked why they decided to participate in the rally Maya stated that she has older siblings that attended Renton multiple years ago that told her that they witnessed the same behavior from that same teacher when they were still in school here. Hearing this, Maya decided that this rally was a chance to make a real change at Renton High School and she had to take it. Diana stated that she has a lot of friends that are a part of marginalized communities and she came to the protest out of support for them. Commented [1]: The second picture on the bottom rights caption is: Students holding up posters together listening to the speeches.

As students were invited to the commons I was surprised to see so many people gathering

to participate. Students had the option to make posters on topics they felt passionate about and/or grab a sheet of paper to write about times they felt discriminated against either in or outside school. People were writing things down, taking pictures, and watching from the stairs above the commons. Throughout the duration of the protest, there were a few students using a megaphone to lead call-and-response chants like, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” as well as, “When students’ lives are under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and we even had students share speeches they prepared about why they were rallying and the changes they want to see around the school. Many people assume the rally was just about racial discrimination here at Renton and while that was a large part of it, it wasn’t the only thing being addressed. We also used this time to discuss issues with the dress code and to encourage students to advocate for themselves and others. I was proud to see so many of my peers rising up to take action and stand for reform at Renton and I was very happy to see that teachers and staff were being receptive during the event rather than brushing it off. Above all I was hopeful that the admin would actually build from this experience and use it to make this school the best that it can be.

Daniyas POV:

After messaging the Instagram account back and forth a few days before the rally, it was brought up if I wanted to speak at the rally. It felt very useless for me to just sit back and do nothing. That isn’t what my family raised me to be. With all my frustration lingering around I wanted to use my voice for the people that would be scared to speak out. As soon as we finished our conversation, I started writing my speech. I knew I had to highlight the community and how we can come together as a school after this. Looking back, there’s not one thing I regret. Knowing that mere teenagers put the effort to plan every single step of the rally by themselves really gives me hope for the future. In the commons, we started to interview people who were at the rally. We got the chance to interview a student named Syriah and we had a really intimate conversation about topics such as diversity, changes they would like to see, and her personal experiences that guided her to the rally. After asking her why she decided to come to the rally, she stated that, “[She] went through a lot of racism at [her] old schools, growing up and we never had anything like this rally. ” When Gavin asked her what Commented [2]: First picture on the left caption is: Students holding up a black lives matter flag. changes she would like to see as a result of the rally, she stated that she, “…would definitely like to see more diversity in teachers because there’s a lot of diversity within the student body, and if the staff doesn’t reflect the students its harder for them to truly understand us.” At the rally, they had two important chants we used such as “Show me what democracy looks like!” Then after peers would reply by saying “This is what democracy looks like” and another chant we said was “When students’ lives are under attack, What do we do?” Then yet again we would reply saying “Stand up fight back”. At the rally, there was also a very important quote that stood out to me. A student named Trishaunie said, “We control this school, not the faculty.” It really opened my eyes to the fact that if we want change we are the ones in control. Another student later passionately brought up how the dress code should not be enforced the way it is now. She also mentioned that there is an issue with body-shaming at this school and how that needs to be stopped. This made me think about why, as a school, we are so focused on body image because it’s lowering our low esteem and having a very negative effect on our mental health. When will the administration understand enough is enough and that we as a student body are tired. They tell us all the time “Tell us when you feel uncomfortable” but they rarely actually listen to us. If you are ever in a situation where you witness or experience discrimination, bullying, etc., or if you want to voice your opinions or suggestions there’s a survey you can do. You can access this with the QR codes posted around the school hallways or the one at the bottom of this article. The staff checks this survey and uses the submissions to see where they can improve. If you think your situation needs more than just a survey, you can always tell a trusted staff member or set up a meeting with your counselor.