Students at Senn High School stage schoolwide anti-ICE walkout

Dozens of students at Nicholas Senn High School in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood walked out of school during sixth period Friday in protest of immigration policy and ICE tactics across the country.

Students gathered at the intersection of Clark Street and Ridge Avenue after 1 p.m. holding signs and flags calling for an end to immigration enforcement activity. Cars driving past the intersection honked their horns in support.

"We need to speak up more," said junior Julia McGuire. "We're young, we need to get the message out. We need to do everything we can, and just keep doing it."

Julia said she found out about the planned walkout from classmates' social media posts. She said organizers scheduled the protest for Friday because they thought most teachers would be fine with it.

"We've been trying to get something together for a little bit now, so I'm glad it finally happened," she said.

Leaving her physics class to join her classmates in protest, Julia said some teachers were very supportive of the students' efforts.

"Some of them were a little iffy, like make sure you do your work," she said. "But other than that, they've been pretty supportive."

The Senn walkout follows a demonstration by hundreds of students Monday at Mather, Northside College Prep, Roosevelt, Amundsen and Von Steuben high schools who also lent their voices to the immigrant cause.

To ensure students were safe during their walkout, several faculty members corralled students to keep them away from the streets. Among them was Claudia Ovalle, Chicago Public Schools network safety manager for the North Side

Ovalle said she found out about the planned walkout Friday morning along with other administrators at the school. After informing the administration about plans, student organizers and the school worked together to ensure student safety, she said.

Typically, she said they ask the organizers questions to figure out their plans: Where are they going to gather? How many people are they expecting? Will Chicago police need to be present?

These measures are undertaken to ensure student safety, she said.

"It's making me happy seeing this many people coming out to do this," student Julia McGuire said. "It's good knowing that there's a lot of people that also agree with us."