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About one-third of Mahurangi College students are expected to walk out of classrooms on Friday, April 3, to demand more action on climate change.
The students will head to central Auckland to join others in a mass School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) rally – a global movement inspired by 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The walkout has been organised by an environmental group within the school – SS4C Mahu – led by head boy Robbie Ennis and senior student Jowan Nute. Most students will travel to Auckland via chartered buses, but a committed group of about 30 will walk from Albany on Thursday evening to cut down on the use of fossil fuels for the journey.
They will be joined by students from other high schools they pass as they head south.
The students are hoping to secure offers of lifts on sailing boats to complete the last leg of their journey from Devonport into the central city.
Robbie says the strikes are not about radically opposing the Government or causing havoc for the sake of it.
“It is a peaceful demonstration of the thousands of people asking the Government to take the environmental crisis that is global warming seriously – so that youth and future generations have a planet to call home,” he says.
It is anticipated the Auckland rally will encourage all generations to attend – not just students – and numbers will likely exceed the 80,000 who participated last year.
Robbie says students have advised the Mahurangi College Board of Trustees of the planned strike and although the board has not officially endorsed the strike, they have not tried to stand in the students’ way.
He says the strike is the first step in a year-long plan to transform Mahurangi College into a sustainable school that cares for its environment. Initiatives proposed include establishing an effective compost system within the college and running workshops to educate students on living sustainable lifestyles.
