![Kalispell Students Talk About Mask Protest [FULL AUDIO]](https://townsquare.media/site/125/files/2021/03/Kalispell-Protest-PIC1-Credit-Kate-Opre-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Kalispell Students Talk About Mask Protest [FULL AUDIO]
Two of the students who organized the protests against mandatory mask policies in the Kalispell public schools joined us Thursday morning on the radio.
Kate Opre is a junior at Glacier High School. We were also joined by Sierra Vickrey, a junior at Flathead High School. They both told us that there were a lot of students and others from the community who were honking their horns in support of the mask protest, but many students felt pressured by the schools not to participate.
Check out the full audio of our conversation on our podcast below:
Original Story: KALISPELL STUDENTS PLAN WALKOUT TO PROTEST MASKS
I know we're all getting tired of talking about masks, but school kids in Montana are sick of being forced to wear masks. And now, students in Kalispell have been planning to protest. (We'll keep you updated as we see coverage following the event)
According to The Daily Inter Lake:
Glacier High School junior Kate Opre is one of the co-organizers for the walkout, which is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. at both Glacier and Flathead high schools. “We’re not against other people wearing masks. We want it to be optional to wear,” she said, adding that she feels the physical distancing and regular disinfection of classrooms and shared spaces she has seen go on at Glacier should be adequate.
The Montana Daily Gazette spoke with the students planning the protest, including 15 year old Madeline Bondy, a freshman at Glacier High School:
Since the announcement of the protest, Bondy’s phone has been ringing off the hook. “People are very excited,” Bondy stated. Many community members, as well as many students, want to help stand up against the masking tyranny.
***Update: I haven't seen any local news coverage of the protest yet, but a Google image search pulled up this photo from The Daily Inter Lake early Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday morning, we got a phone call from a parent of one of the kids helping to organize the protest against being forced to wear masks in the Kalispell public schools. Lloyd talked about the reason the kids decided to start the protest, and he also talked about what he sees as the hypocrisy from the public schools- which allowed pro-gun control protests and walkouts to take place back in 2018. (Check out the audio below)
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