‘WE WANT TO  
 High school students stage walkout over  
 Students walk out of Brooklyn Technical High School to demand a remote learning option and better safety protocols.   Photo by Adrian Childress 
 BY ISABEL SONG BEER, ADRIAN  
 CHILDRESS AND DEAN MOSES 
 Students at Brooklyn Technical  
  
 INSIDE 
 Your entertainment 
 guide Page 21 
 Police Blotter ..........................8 
 Opinion .................................... 18 
 HOW TO REACH US 
 COURIER L 2     IFE, JANUARY 14-20, 2022 
 High School, along with  
 their counterparts at Stuyvesant  
 High  School  in  Manhattan, 
  staged a walkout on Jan.  
 11 to demand online learning  
 options and safer classrooms  
 as COVID-19 cases continue  to  
 spread across the city. 
 “The Department of Education 
  cited a district-wide absentee  
 rate of about 55.5 percent on  
 Friday, Jan. 7.” said Movement  
 of Rank and Educators, United  
 Federation of Teachers (MOREUFT), 
  in a statement Jan. 10.  
 Prior to the pandemic, normal  
 daily attendance rates were  
 about 91 percent. 
 The students demanded  
 that NYC public offi cials,  and  
 Mayor Eric Adams, offer what  
 they believe are necessary remote  
 learning options and more  
 stringent COVID-19 health protocols. 
   
 Coordinated by three  
 Stuyvesant  High  School  juniors  
 who were uncomfortable  
 with the lack of virtual options  
 offered to students amidst the  
 rise of the Omicron variant,  
 Rifah Saba, 17, Samantha Farrow, 
  16, and Cruz Warshaw, 16,  
 created social media accounts  
 on Instagram, Facebook, and  
 Twitter to organize the citywide  
 walkout.  
 After uploading their fi rst  
 post on Jan. 6 promoting a walkout, 
  they quickly connected  
 with  students  from  Brooklyn  
 Technical High School reached  
 out to them and helped spread  
 the news — igniting a spark of  
 advocacy throughout the fi ve  
 boroughs.   
 Warshaw complained for  
 weeks to family members regarding  
 Mayor Eric Adams decision  
 to keep schools open following  
 the winter break, despite  
 the rising number of COVID-19  
 positivity cases among students  
 and teachers. After talking  
 with her mother about staging  
 a walkout in her school, she  
 teamed up with her classmates  
 Saba and Farrow. 
 “When Cruz had asked me  
 to be a part of this, my dad had  
 COVID, but I was still forced to  
 come  to  school,”  said  Saba.  “I  
 thought that was ridiculous because  
 I could be asymptomatic  
 and infect other people. So I got  
 involved.”  
 Farrow’s brother also  
 caught COVID-19, and she was  
 forced to attend classes.  While  
 she has noted some teachers  
 quietly offered their support,  
 she thinks that the school administration  
 did allow faculty  
 to openly share their opinions.  
 Additionally, some fellow students  
 were simply indifferent  
 about the cause.  
 “I felt really hopeless at the  
 time because we are the people  
 who  have  to  go  to  school  and  
 risk catching COVID-19 and  
 bring it back to our families. We  
 don’t have a say as to whether  
 we could go back to school or if  
 we had other options,” Farrow  
 said.  
 The walkout took place simultaneously  
 at Stuyvesant  
 High School and Brooklyn  
 Technical High School at 11:52  
 am on Jan. 11, while also igniting  
 the participation of several  
 other schools throughout the  
 city. Many of the participating  
 schools permitted the walkout  
 but required permission slips  
 from parents or legal guardians. 
 As they marched into the  
 blistering cold, various students  
 spoke to amNewYork Metro regarding  
 their grievances. 
 “I personally  live with  four  
 high risk individuals myself,”  
 said Brooklyn Tech sophomore  
 Joyce Lee. “Every time I go to  
 school I risk not only my life,  
 but their lives as well.” 
 Mayor Adams has repeat- 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2022 by Brooklyn Courier Life  
 LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements, articles and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole  
 or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address changes to  
 Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One MetroTech North, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.  
 Mail:  
 Courier Life,  
 1 Metrotech Center North  
 3rd Floor, Brooklyn,  
 N.Y. 11201 
 General Phone:  
 (718) 260-2500 
 News Fax:  
 (718) 260-2592 
 News E-Mail:  
 editorial@schnepsmedia.com 
 Display Ad Phone:  
 (718) 260-8302 
 Display Ad E-Mail:  
 rdonofrio@schnepsmedia.com 
 Display Ad Fax:  
 (718) 260-2579 
 Classified Phone:  
 (718) 260-2555 
 Classified Fax:  
 (718) 260-2549 
 Classified E-Mail:  
 classified@schnepsmedia.com 
 
				
link
		link
		link
		link
		link
		link