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03/15/2019 06:14 PMAt noon on Friday, March 15, a group of Branford High School students walked out of school, joining students across the U.S. and around the world in a Global Climate Strike.
The Branford strike, organized by BHS junior Stella Martone, gathered about 30 students who left the building at 185 East Main Street at noon to walk to a rally point in front of Town Hall on the Branford green, where they were met with cheers from parents and supportive community members. Most of the students carried signs and posters to raise awareness, and demand action, to address climate change.
Martone, a 16-year-old junior at BHS, took to the podium on the green to welcome the students and supporters. She said she was inspired to organize the Branford walkout by the work of Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish teen climate activist. Thunberg organized the first school strike for climate change outside the Swedish parliament in 2018 and founded the activist organization, Fridays For Future.
"[She] has been walking out of her school every Friday and striking, and slowly...getting more people to join her and come with her and walk out with her and strike for climate change," said Martone. "And so today is the Global Event, Friday the 15th, and I'm so glad you all could make it."
Martone said it was "kind of hard" for the students to get to the rally, which was not a school-sanctioned event. She told Zip06/The Sound that she originally had interest from about 200 students wanting to walk out, but students needed to have permission from their parents to be able leave the building during school hours without penalty.
"It was kind of really hard to get here, and I'm so, so thankful that everyone is here," Martone told the small crowd on the green. "I'm really proud right now, and I'm really glad that everyone came out."
At about 3 p.m. on March 15, Thunberg posted on her Twitter page (@GretaThunberg) that the days' international walkout had already exceeded participation from over 1 million youth gathering in more than 2000 places in over 125 countries on all continents.
Several students and residents stepped up to the open mic during the Branford rally. Maya Kyriakides, a BHS junior, said the issue of sped-up climate change "...is the issue of every living thing on this earth."
"The UN says that we have until 2030 to completely halve all of our carbon emissions and all of our greenhouse gases [or] by 2050...basically we're in big trouble if we don't do that," said Kyriakides. "So I think it's really important that we do things like this, that we spread the word – let everyone know this is an extremely important issue, let our politicians know we care about change."
She and others speaking at the rally also encouraged individuals to change their lifestyles to help curb climate change.
BHS junior Dylan Giordano said it's important for youth to get involved and not to be discouraged.
"I know I've heard it a lot, and I'm sure you've heard it a lot too... that this won't change anything," said Giordano. "And I can't stress this enough -- that this is how changes start. This is how things begin."
Other speakers included residents who participated in original Earth Day and other environmental efforts in the 1970's. They encouraged the students to keep up the call for action and to hold government officials to account to address the impact of climate change.
BYO (Bring Your Own) Branford member Meg Kilgore talked about the grassroot group's current request before Branford Representative Town Meeting (RTM) to adopt a plastic bag ban ordinance. The student group also received encouragement from the podium from RTM member Jessica Everlith (D, District 1) and Branford First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove.
"Thank you all for organizing this. This is so inspiring," said Everlith. "When I was in high school, stuff like this was not happening."
Everlith said she wanted to echo what others were saying, including making personal choices such as not using plastic. But, she said, the problem "...really comes down to is capitalism and making a profit off this stuff," which elicited cheers from the students.
"What we need to do is keep pressure on our legislators and get this stuff regulated...it needs to go farther and it needs to be stronger," said Everlith.
Cosgrove discussed steps Branford is taking, from a six-acre solar array installed on land at the town's former land, to a town-wide energy audit to reduce carbon-dependent electricity, to instituting a municipal Coastal Resiliency Fund and inspiring the state senate's Environmental Committee to raise a bill that will help towns build those funds more quickly (Cosgrove and Branford Finance Director Jim Finch will testify in Hartford on March 18 on behalf of the new bill).
"I just want to say to the students that organized this and all those that attended, I'm proud to say that Branford is really taking an effort to address many things that you are concerned about," said Cosgrove. "I'm proud of the town and all the community for really doing its part."
Martone closed the rally thanking everyone involved in the student walkout and those who came out to support them. She said she'd like see local change start on a school level, including ending school food service supported by products packaged in single-use plastic or Styrofoam containers; while also stepping up recycling.
"I really do want to put Branford on the map, and say that we are trying our hardest and doing everything that we can to fight global warming and to fight climate change. Because it is a pressing issue. It's not liberal agenda, and it's not something that we made up," said Martone. "I'm just so thankful you all came here. It means the world to me, and it means the world to the planet. Because we have to do something. And every single other person that's standing right where you are now, in their own towns and their own countries (and) at over 1,000 participating events, are all thinking the same thing: that we need to start making a change."