As the clock hit 2 p.m., classroom doors swung open, and RM students poured out the hallways, hoisting signs and donning pins, their chants echoing a desire for change.

On Jan. 20—the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration—RM students were joined by over 500 groups protesting across the country. The nationwide walkouts, coined the “Free America Walkouts,” were organized by the Women’s March to address the ongoing human rights violations by the Trump administration. The protests specifically targeted the ongoing actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), bolstered by the recent murder of American citizen Renee Good by an ICE agent.

“I know that a lot of people, a lot of students, are just sick and tired and fed up with everything, so me and my friends organized everything,” freshman Sam Bevington, one of the co-coordinators of the walkout, said. “This morning, there were only gonna be a few people that were gonna come out that knew about it, but at lunch, we spread flyers, we talked to everyone. We told them to spread the word. And now nearly the entire school is out here.”

Even though the march only lasted 30 minutes, the protest featured large turnout from students and staff. “I’m just, honestly, so wowed because me and my friends are all freshmen, and we set this up, and it’s amazing to see the community at RM come together,” Bevington said.

Across Montgomery County itself, other high schools were organizing their own walkouts. These included Montgomery Blair and Walt Whitman High School. The county as a whole has taken measures in fear of ICE raids due to their impacts on the community. Already over a dozen students have been deported or left the country due to their parents being deported, according to the Baltimore Banner. ICE agents were also reported to have tackled two occupants in front of Eastern Middle School in September of this year during student drop-off, according to Bethesda Today.

The RM community shared the sentiment of fear and anger for the administration and how deeply their actions have impacted families and innocent people. “The actions of ICE up to this point have already been absolutely disgusting. The sheer lack of empathy and regard for human life in any capacity has already been horrific enough,” junior Charles Gray said.

Students who haven’t been physically impacted by ICE have felt the emotional stress that the raids have caused on communities. “I’m seeing all of these videos and the online discourse of people whose families are getting torn apart. And I honestly just think, not only is it really, really, just unfortunate and cruel, but it’s scary, seeing so many people being targeted by federal authorities,” senior Katherine Xue said.

For numerous students, their goal in participating in the walkout was to bring awareness to Good’s death on Jan. 7. “They’ve [ICE has] gone and killed an American citizen. Just someone who was just going about their day, driving down the road, and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they got shot. A federal agent killed a United States citizen. That is insane,” Gray said. 

Students are aware that one protest won’t directly impact the state of the country and the decisions of the government. However, they have a strong desire to bring more general attention to what is going on. “This is a situation that needs to be talked about more and actually spread more awareness of what’s happening in the country,” freshman Amor Dilaire said.

Even though change isn’t imminent, through consistent and strong efforts, students are determined to spread their message. “Some people are like ‘what’s the point of going [to the walkout],’ but it’s not like you wave a magic wand and everything can be fixed, we need to speak out and be loud,” freshman Terryn Williams said.

Through these organized actions of schools and protest groups, the younger generation has begun to showcase its growing influence and power. “There’s a widespread and growing sentiment amongst students and amongst younger people that ICE … is not only very unpopular, but also just cruel, and I think it’s important to raise visibility, no matter where or what. And I think this walkout is helping with that,” Xue said. 

These protests were a bold declaration of the power of student voices. “[The purpose of the walkout] is to show us that students have power too. It’s not just about the adults. We are the generation that’s going to be controlling the world in the next 10 years. So it’s going to be up to us to clean up this mess, and this shows us that we can clean up that mess,” Gray said.