Damyr

“People think we really couldn’t do anything. But look, we did something. We left a mark.”

By Students of NYC

March 30^th, 2023

In January of 2023, students at Springfield Gardens high school came together to fight against the Success Academy proposals to colocate at their school and take up essential space in their campus. Their student-led advocacy resulted in the proposals being withdrawn two days before they were set to be voted on — an unprecedented victory for the community.

“At the joint public hearing with the board, we needed a lot of students from our school to be there to really show that we cared about this decision. So I was trying to influence some of my peers to come. I heard a lot of, 'I'm just going to transfer out, don't really care about this decision.' Or, or, 'I'm a senior, I'm leaving in a year anyways.' The recurring: ‘I don't cares’ can really take a toll. Part of me feels like it comes from learned helplessness. They just couldn’t see the positive coming out of us banding together. But I like to find good in our student body, so I kept trying to convince them. I texted all my friends. And it worked—even alumni from our school came. A lot of people showed up.

We had to hold our voices when we spoke to the officials. They only wanted to hear facts. What percentage of the building is open? What classes do you take, and what programs are available? They would not listen to anything we brought up about ethical or moral decisions. We had to keep ourselves calm and collected, present all our information. But that made the outcome even better.

When the protest was put on social media, I saw a lot of comments trying to challenge what we did that day. Saying things like those children do not care. They only want to skip class. So, how is that correct with all the work we put in? That day, the weather was freezing. We stood outside for hours. Then we marched down to MS 72 and allowed them to see that we were making our voices heard. The students from MS 72 came out and joined with us to support the cause. Then we all walked back and continued with our classwork like it was a regular day.

We chose this protest. We made this happen, not our teachers. So we came back for our classes, and we handled our respective responsibilities. Because that is what we represent.

We did interviews with the press. I cannot tell you how long I was waiting for that news to come. I sat with my laptop open for hours. But when it finally came, I saw they cut everything. Even my face was cut out. They only had my chin, after everything we did and said. That is why I’m so grateful that my voice can be heard. It really demonstrates how much power we had as a student body. All odds were against us. Success Academy is privately funded.

If it weren’t for us, this decision would have gone through. People think we really couldn’t do anything, you know? But look, we did something. We left a mark.”