Despite the cold and snow, Marissa-Chanel Pillah was ready to stand up for her beliefs. As thousands of high schoolers around the country organized protests in recent weeks over immigration enforcement incidents, Pillah and several hundred NHS students joined the movement this morning.

Noblesville Schools administration estimates more than 300 students left the school this morning in protest of recent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cities around the United States. Noblesville students exited the front of the school, walked behind the school to the sidewalk along Field Drive, toward the Noblesville Square, and back to the school, with many students carrying signs expressing their opinions. One of these students was Pillah, who has personal connections to the movement.

“I’m standing here for my friends and my family,” Pillah said. “I was born in the U.S., [but] my family was not. We’re all here in fear.”

Many student participants observed that emotions ran high during the protest, something NHS administration was monitoring. NHS Dean of Students Jason Simmons was one of the school administrators who worked to keep students safe. 

“My day has been monitoring the radio, doing everything I can do, and providing a safe environment for our students,” Simmons said.

Student safety was a top concern for the district, with Noblesville Schools Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Marnie Cooke ensuring the community that both students, and their rights, would be protected. 

“We respect the First Amendment rights of students and also must ensure the safe operation of our schools,” Cooke said in an official statement.  

Students involved say that they were driven to action by the escalation of ICE activity across the United States, which has recently resulted in violence. 

“We’ve got people getting shot out there,” freshman Thomas Warner said. “We just can’t have that in America.”

Because of these tensions, participants said they were using the opportunity to rally for visibility, both nation-wide and within the community of Noblesville. Students like sophomore Larissa Young have high hopes for the outcome of today’s walkout. 

“I hope that people actually see this and understand that we’re high school kids leaving our classes to make older people who can vote understand that they’re making the wrong decision about what their country is, and that we have to pick up the slack for their stupid decisions,” Young said.

Pillah, like many of the student participants, say they hope to use their voices to call for a change that affects them personally. Pillah hopes she’ll make a difference, but in the meantime, she’s attempting to instill hope. 

“Be strong,” Pillah said. “And do not fear.”