Jackie Crosby, Star Tribune
Published March 20, 2003 DAYX21
Students streamed out of classes at metro area high schools this morning, headed for a day of protest and antiwar activities at the University of Minnesota and in downtown Minneapolis.
A rally on the university campus drew participants from 40 area high schools, organizers said. In Minneapolis, about 1,800 of the 10,600 students enrolled at seven public high schools were absent, a district spokeswoman said.
Dozens of students began leaving classrooms at South High School in Minneapolis around 10:35 a.m. They departed in an orderly fashion, boarding buses hired by organizers to take them to the university. They were accompanied by a few adults holding signs with antiwar slogans.
The group arrived in front of Northrup Auditorium in advance of a scheduled mass protest rally. Music by Bob Marley and other artists blared over loudspeakers, entertaining the growing crowd.
Protesting war by walking out of school
Stormi Greener
Star Tribune South High senior Liz Winston, 17, had taken the day off to attend the event.
"It's great thing so many people are here," she said. I couldn't even speak [Wednesday] I was so upset. It's make me warm inside to see so many people here."
The students were joined by several sympathetic adults, including university employee Marie Milsten Fiedler, 57.
"I'm here to support the students," Fiedler said. "It's not just the youth that have strong feelings about this. Aggression is not the answer. It's time to step back from Iraq."
After the rally, an overflow crowd gathered for an antiwar teach-in held at the Willey Hall auditorium, capacity 1,200. Later in the afternoon, students planned to march to another rally at the Federal Building in downtown Minneapolis.
cont'd at http://www.startribune.com/stories/1762/3769675.html
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