Zenil Koovejee

As the day went on, two assiduous students stood by their signs and made sure all of them were visible to onlookers.

On Nov. 9, three Amador Valley High students congregated near the B-Building during brunch in anticipation of a collective walkout in support of Palestine, calling for a ceasefire from the Israel Defense Forces. Onlookers, including faculty and district workers, seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

On Wednesday night, students and parents received an email from Principal Jonathan Fey describing that flyers were put around campus calling for students to gather at brunch to show support for a ceasefire from Israel Defense Forces. 

“The idea of a walk-out itself scared a lot of people, especially those who care about their attendance a lot and don’t want any unexcused absences,” said one of the protesting sophomores.

The main issue appeared to be the word used to convey the method of demonstration— “walk-out.” While the original intent wasn’t to walk off campus, some students interpreted the flyers this way.

School admin was in a tight spot with this. If something were to happen and they knew about it but hadn’t taken any precautions, they would be liable. On the other hand, if they were to take too many precautions, they would also seem culpable.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know the walk-out was happening until I saw the email. [Admin] probably could’ve avoided the crowd by just not sending the email,” said Kaden Keliher (‘26). 

Some students said the email made them feel unnerved. These students claimed that might be the reason that few students showed up to join them.

“I think that the email might have intimidated a lot of students into not joining. It’s also probably the reason that even the organizer of the event didn’t [participate],” said the anonymous sophomore.

Even with the underwhelming turnout, some students maintain that this demonstration was a valuable opportunity to show support and exercise their First Amendment rights.

“If [a student] feels like they care about a specific issue, they should speak up about it. I think there’s a reason that your freedoms of expression are quite literally the first on the list,” said the anonymous senior.

Despite differing perspectives on the demonstration, both admin and students recognized that safely expressing one’s views on pertinent issues is a fundamental skill.

“The U.S. Constitution for freedom of peaceful assembly and speech is not just for students outside high school. It’s for every American citizen. We’re trying to make a space where students can be safe and express themselves appropriately,” said AV principal Jon Fey.