IS THE CHILDREN LEARING?

Instead of Senior Skip-Out day, high schoolers of all grade levels organize, with the concurrence of their teachers, protests against immigration enforcement.

The protests began before the first protester had a fatal encounter with law enforcement in Minneapolis.

Protests against the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement tactics were held across the country [January 20] — with dozens of those protests happening in Southeastern Wisconsin.

The demonstrations were organized by The Women's March in what they called the "Free America Walkout," encouraging the public to walk out of school or work in protest of ICE.

In Milwaukee, hundreds of Rufus King High School students walked out of class [January 20] morning and could be seen walking through the Rufus King neighborhood.

"It's really important for all these students to be out here because ICE's policies are not only affecting politics, they're students like us, students around the nation, and it's causing a lot of fear, which becomes an issue in our communities because everybody deserves to be safe and feel safe in their own communities." Kali Maafree, a Rufus King student, said.

Rufus King is notionally a magnet school, although its academic performance is on a par with many urban schools.  There might be forces at work other than active immigration patrols making people feel less than safe in their own communities.  "That's not an urban design problem, that's what happens when you celebrate transgressivity and call bad behavior authenticity.  The same community members who would like to stop the bad driving are also now at work to reduce the gang gunplay.  There is still hope for a hurting world."  You only have to walk two blocks south or three blocks west of the King campus to find the bad driving.

Never mind that, the professional protest community had its Outraged Youth worked up and the talking points distributed.

Lola Bernicky, Melody Reddington, Sofy Arce, and Aimee Soto, Kettle Moraine High School Students.

Unattributed image retrieved from WTMJ-TV.

That's right, despite January 19 being a holiday Monday devoted to Civil Rights Causes, and thus, a logical day for students to do their National Day of Service by assembling to redress grievances rather than gathering recyclables, not returning to class was the best use of their Tuesday.

Those same sentiments stretched west down Interstate 94 to Wales in Waukesha County, where dozens of Kettle Moraine High School Students had a similar message.

"I come from a family of immigrants and surrounded by immigrants, so I think it's really important to keep everybody together," Aimee Soto, a Kettle Moraine student, added.

Farther south, dozens of protesters gathered at the intersection of Highway 31 and 20 in Racine.

Tuesday's Racine County demonstration was in addition to bimonthly protests held on the busy corner. For many of these protesters, that meant braving the cold two days in a row to voice their opinions.

"It's just really important that we're here to let our community know how we feel about it," said Kelly Gallaher, protestor and chair of the Racine County Democratic Party.

Protestors said these gatherings are an effort to resist where they believe our country is heading and to engage others.

What they mostly did is provided material for mockery.

That's one form of mockery; if you take seriously the claim that nobody is illegal on stolen land, pop goes the intifada!  Thank you Billie Eilish.

Meanwhile, as we go to press, the organized professional protestors are having a big mad over Genoa-Kingston High School, a short Woodstock and Sycamore ride north of Cold Spring Shops headquarters, hosting a Turning Point U.S.A. "History Rocks" event, after regular school hours, attendance optional.  School administrators engage in their predictable raising of security concerns.  Why is it that those only come up when the professional protestors raise a stink about somebody saying positive things about Normal life?

The GKEA claims the event was arranged weeks ago by Club America, but the assembly was only announced to students, staff and families last week. The union also says the event was not discussed at recent Board of Education Meetings.

On Jan. 30, Genoa-Kingston Superintendent Chad Wagner shared a letter with students, parents and district staff outlining the reasons behind its decision to allow the event.

“I recognize some families have concerns about the specific viewpoints this speaker may express, and those concerns are understandable. In navigating this decision, our school district is committed to fostering an environment that is legally compliant, safe, and intellectually robust. The decision to proceed with this assembly is grounded in two key pillars: our legal obligations as a public institution and our pedagogical mission to prepare students for a diverse world saying no student is required to attend the assembly if it conflicts with their personal beliefs.”

You don't get that sort of nuance, or soothing the protestors, when the school assembly features a speaker questioning the personal beliefs of Normals, do you?  And yes, dozens protested.  "ReSisters, local Democrats gather to protest, handful in support of controversial event."  One student, who the article suggests agreed with the politics of the ReSisters, wore, without any irony, a shirt reading "Is my freedom of speech offending you."  To protest a Turning Point event.  Go figure.

Cold Spring Shops headquarters is on land that was in Wisconsin Territory before Illinois became a state. We recognize the labor applied by those settlers marking the trails that contemporary Illinoisans use to visit Lake Geneva, the Dells, and Door County, and to watch their teams get owned in Green Bay.