High school students vow to protest

As many public high school teachers prepare to boycott extra curricular activities, a group of students in Oakville is getting ready to stage a protest of its own.

Some grade 12 students at TA Blakelock high school have planned a walkout on Monday. They’re protesting the cancellation of after school sports and clubs because of the labour dispute between the teachers’ union and the province.

Student Twoey Gray: “Students will be getting up and leaving their class and they’d be coming out to the front doors with their signs and their school colours to show that we’re here and we don’t want this to happen.”

Jesse Belsito: “At the clubs I get a chance to hang out with different kids around the school. I think it’s really nice to interact with people that you usually wouldn’t.”

Marlee Maracle: “This isn’t only affecting the teachers but its also affecting us now, especially since something that’s so important to a lot of students is being taken away from them.”

“We want the powers that be to recognize that students shouldn’t be collateral in this situation. We do have a voice and we want that to be heard”

The protest will start Monday morning at 9:45, the day teachers will stop volunteering for extra-curricular activities. A group of students at Hamilton’s Sir John A MacDonald high school are also planning a walk-out in support of the teachers on Monday.

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