Prince Rupert's students aren't backing down

Students from Prince Rupert Middle School (PRMS) and Charles Hays Secondary (CHSS) are back for the future as they proceed with their second protest in a row on Friday.

Last week they may have sacrificed class time to go to the protest but this week they sacrificed a sunny day off to stand up for the environment.

Across the globe students are protesting in the streets demanding climate action now. Lindsay Gosnell stood on the steps of Prince Rupert’s city hall demanding such action, while her brother Brandon Gosnell marched the streets of Vancouver protesting the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

At the age of 14, Lindsay Gosnell is already thinking about how the environment will impact her decision to have kids.

“I just want a future for my kids if I have any, and if I don’t I will be really sad, because I want everyone to have a chance at life and just actually go for their dreams and not worry about if there’s going to be another year left to live,” she said.

READ AND WATCH MORE: Teens gather en masse across Canada to demand drastic climate action

Lindsay Gosnell is demanding the city take climate action now as her brother demands a halt on the Trans Mountain pipeline in a Vancouver protest. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)

I am here to help stop climate change and to start trying to make things better but we need help,” said Kendra Robinson (right) from Charles Hays Secondary School. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)

Gosnell’s mom and cousin came out in support of the strike but they stood on the sidelines to give voices to the next generation, as did their teachers who also came down to show their support during their lunch hour.

“This is a chance for them to support and participate in the democratic process and I gave my students the choice to come or not come last week. A bunch of them were really empowered and so they came. I think they were excited because it was a chance for their voices to be heard, and they were heard and felt noticed,” Chris Reed, a teacher at Prince Rupert Middle School, said.

Teachers Chris Reed, PRMS, and Raegan Sawka, CHSS, (back row) came out during their lunch break to support their students in their fight for climate change. Left to right: Calum Wesley, Lindsay Gosnell, Xavier Robinson, Avery Lorette (back), Kali Pomponio (front), Hannah Lindenblatt and Madelaine Picard. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)

Two strikes were held globally on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27 as the UN Climate Action Summit took place on Sept. 23.

On Sept. 20 PRMS walked out of class at 11:30 a.m. to march to city hall. Some of their kids decided to return the following week to support the older Charles Hays students who were protesting after them.

“We are back again because we really really believe in the cause,” said Grade 6 student Athena Eby, who came with her peer Heidi Bellis as well as two students from the Grade 7 cohort.

Left to right: Carina Farnes (Grade 7), Athena Eby (Grade 6), Lia Crump (Grade 7), Heidi Bellis (Grade 6) came to support the Charles Hays Secondary Students as they protested climate change. The four PRMS students attended the strike on Fri. Sept. 20 as well. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)

Hannah Lindenblatt, Avery Lorette and their peers from CHSS also came out for both protests during the week. Their main concerns are implementing better recycling programs, improving the city’s transit and starting more conversation at their school.

WATCH: What does PRMS want? Climate action. When do they want it? Now.

“I think transportation is one of the more easy issues for the city to tackle and a great place to start overall. I myself walk as much as I possibly can to school and work. When it comes to the community, I think carpooling and public transport can be a valuable asset to work toward improving sustainability and ecology,” said Lorette, 17, who just got back from a science and ecology trip in Ottawa where he learned about individual actions against climate change.

Two strikes were held on Sept. 20 and 27, as the UN emergency climate summit took place on Sept. 23. Avery Lorette (left), Madelaine Picard and Kali Pomponio (right) plan to come back as often as they can for Fridays for Future, a weekly global student-led climate strike. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)

For Lindenblatt it is about bettering her own institutions and starting a conversation to exchange ideas.

“We are considering starting an environmentalist group that comes out Fridays once a month or more and focuses on ways the school can improve. The biggest one is recycling and seeing about the heating which has been an issue,” she said.

Fridays for Futures is a weekly student-led climate strike started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was marching with thousands of students in Montreal on Friday.

Jenna Cocullo | Journalist

Jenna Cocullo