Are you curious about what local high school students are doing as a follow up to the March for Our Lives and Wear Orange events? We posted a short comment about this topic showing that their activism continues. Now there’s a longer article on the organizing going on. It’s an article by the blog “Cheat Sheet of Champaign County” and it describes a recent meeting of the Student Activist Organization (SAO).
Below are a few quotes from the article, but check out the full article on the Cheat Sheet blog site. It’s well worth a read if you want to be inspired and encouraged by these young people.
- “The Student Activist Organization (SAO) includes many students and student leaders who had met and organized around the recent marches, walkouts and town halls concerned with gun violence and possible reforms. In last night’s meeting of two dozen students, they laid out preliminary organizational structures and broader issue and project teams.”
- “Some of the future work proposed included tutorial videos and educational tools for students to understand how local government works and how to effect policy changes they’d like to see. Issues such as improved sexual education with an emphasis on consent, drug policy and marijuana decriminalization, protections for marginalized groups in the community, as well as gun reform were discussed among others. “
- “Many students were already planning to participate in upcoming political actions on immigration, canvassing for candidates, etc. They already had the beginnings of a newsletter and a broad social media presence to help keep members informed and connected. “
- “It would have been an impressive start for adults organizing an indivisible or similar political activist group to get involved. I think it’s safe to say that these students shouldn’t be underestimated.”
If you’re on Facebook, you can keep up with the SAO at: https://www.facebook.com/CUstudentactivistorganization/. They also have a Twitter and Instagram presence.
P.S. The Cheat Sheet of Champaign County is an excellent site for detailed information on what’s happening at the county level. We’ll be doing a profile of this valuable resource in the near future.
CUP (Champaign Urbana Progressives) 