by Dennis Dalman
A March for Solidarity May 14 by Sartell High School students and a rally midway through the march brought impassioned accusations of slurs, bullying and threats aimed at students of color and those perceived as “different” for one reason or another.
About 150 people – students and some adults – joined the march, which began at the parking lot of Celebration Lutheran Church and continued to Sartell City Hall where the rally took place. Most of the students in the march live in Sartell, but some who participated are from Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud. At the rally, students gave examples of how they had been objects of derision by other groups of students.
The march was organized by the “Student Advocates for Equity” club. Its goal is to show strong support for all students in schools, as well as for teachers and school-board members who have been sharply criticized by some parents in Sartell and elsewhere in the nation.
Along the march route on Pinecone Road, many motorists honked and gave gestures of approval to the marchers, but there were occasional incidents of negative comments and rude gestures.
“However, we stayed together as a group,” said participant Anthony Berndt. “We avoided engagement with ignorant or bigoted actions or comments.”
The placards carried by the marchers had slogans that included the following: Schools Are For All Students; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion; Protect Our Teachers; Our Education, Our Choice; Stop Anti-Asian Hatred; Enough is Enough.
The “solidarity” in March for Solidarity is defined as “unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest.”
According to the marchers and speakers, students who feel they’ve been marginalized and/or bullied include people of color, people of other religions or cultures, lower socio-economic groups and members who are or who are perceived as having GLTBQ sexual orientations.
“As many students made clear during their speeches at city hall, the hallways of Sartell High School are not friendly places for students who aren’t white, cisgender or straight,” said Jenna Dahlberg after the march. “Students get called slurs by their peers and are sometimes threatened with physical assault.”
When negative incidents are reported by the victims, Dahlberg added, they often receive more slurs or threats.
She is also critical of the school board caving into pressure and the threat of a lawsuit from a group of parents. Those parents felt that rainbow stickers and other posters put up in hallways were inappropriate and somehow harmed their own students. The rainbow stickers showed support for the LGBTQ community. The school removed the stickers and posters. Instead, the school authorized new posters to be put up that state “This is a welcoming space. In this school, bullying, discrimination and harassment are prohibited.”
“But that action (removing stickers, posters) did not stop the tension,” Dahlberg said.
One of the rally speakers was Emily Welte. She told the Newsleader the next day that she is not seen as “normal” at the high school because she is part of the LGBTQ community and a captain of Gay-Straight Alliance.
“I see a lot of hate-filled behavior toward those in the community and anyone else who is diverse or different,” she said. “The Solidarity March was necessary because it meant that teachers, students and others aren’t alone in the fight for equity. That fight has just started, but there is a community ready to fight for it.”
Student Joshua Nguyen said the march was a morale booster.
“There’s always a lot of opposition and hatred that minority students face, so having the opportunity to show some loves means a great deal,” he said. “As a minority student myself, I appreciated there were so many people willing to get out and show support for myself and other students like me.”
Stephanie Bluhm, who along with two others, led a call-and-response chant at the rally, told the Newsleader, “Teaching and allowing students to stand up for what they believe is so important. I think adults who are never in our buildings need to stop deciding how they are run.”
Another placard slogan (Strive for Equity, not Excellence) was explained by Dahlberg.
“No child should be held to the expectation that they need to be ‘excellent’ all the time, or even at all,” she said. “People have different abilities and different definitions of ‘excellence,’ and to expect everyone to achieve the school district’s definition of excellence is absurd. We, as marchers, want our students to be given tools that not only identify the differences in abilities between students but also address these differences so everyone can succeed in their own way.”
Student Ellena Ashby said the March for Solidarity was a “physical representation of support for everyone in this community who feels unsupported or unwelcome.”
Like many march participants, Bennett Prose expressed optimism about the nurturing of respect and equity for all students and teachers.
“Personally,” said Prose, “this march gave me so much hope about our community. I truly believe there are so many folks who want to help our students and make our schools better places to be.”
Andi Koester, a student participant, commented on the speeches given at the rally.
“The speeches,” she said, “show the significance of being accepted and how even though many community members would like to ignore it, these are not isolated issues.”
Paisley Watson, also a student participant, said she worries every day about the tensions in the high school.
“Many days I wake up and one of the first things I think about is the lack of support at my school,” she told the Newsleader. “. . . I watch with every day that passes the increased amount of burn-out and dejection among my peers as we get battered with insult after insult, followed by very little support from the community and the school. Hence, the Solidarity March.”
Alissa Brickman also attended the march and spoke at the rally. She is a candidate for State Senate District 13 (which includes Sartell) in the upcoming November election.
She called the event “outstanding but sad,” – sad because “these children are more loving and accepting than the adults they have been up against this year.”
In her speech, Brickman told the marchers they will bring change.
“It is not fair that adults are actually bullying the school and these young adults. This is happening across Minnesota and across the nation. We have to stand up for what is right and follow the lead of these brilliant and brave students.”
Most if not all of the concerns of Solidarity March participants will be handled by new school action plans as detailed in a story written by Newsleader writer Mike Knaak. A 96-member Educational Equity and Student Experience Committee recently completed its long, intense brainstorming sessions and recommends the district take many actions on 10 topics.
The report was presented by Superintendent Jeff Ridlehoover at the May 11 school-board meeting. He said some of the actions are already in place, with more to be implemented soon. The action policies were designed for the following categories: Activities, Communications and School/Home Partnerships, Culture and Climate, Curriculum and Instruction, Harassment and Bullying, Social Media, Special Education, Student Support Services, Technology, and Transitions Between Buildings.
To read the entire report, visit the school district website at www.isd748.org/Page/501.
Students set off on their March for Solidarity May 14 in Sartell. The marchers, who intended to bring attention to harassment and bullying incidents in schools, held a speakers’ rally right outside of Sartell City Hall.
