Occupy Polson students stand up for their beliefs
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POLSON — Clad in coats, hats and mittens, Polson High School students began “Occupy Polson” to protest proposed cutbacks in federal student aid Jan. 2. The evening shift started about 4 p.m. when students gathered and asked Lake County Commissioners for permission to stay until 10 p.m. instead of the agreed-upon time of 7 p.m.
Polson High School students Hayden Congdon, Clay Frissell, Sydney Gambrel, Reed Hovenkotter, Riley Kenney, Ian Laimbeer, Riley Lemm, Aspen Many Hides and Zach Schmidt gathered on the northwest corner of the courthouse lawn with signs made by Kenney, Many Hides and Frissell. Some of the signs read “Diamonds R forever and so is student loan debt,” “We are part of the 99%,” “Don’t take my education away,” “Aid’s awareness ... student aid that is,” and “Our students care.”
Most of the students were seniors with the exception of Congdon, a junior, and Schmidt, a sophomore, who waved a sign asking passers-by to come sign a petition.
Occupy groups have been springing up all around the United States, and this one got its start after Laimbeer and Lemm started thinking about a discussion in AP Government class on why politicians don’t pay attention to students. The main reason is that students do not vote, they found.
AP Government teacher Paul Briney said he had nothing to do with the Occupy Polson movement, but he said he pushes his students to register to vote.
Although he may not support an issue himself, Briney said he always is happy when PHS students get involved.
The Occupy Polson students got a “real world response,” Briney noted, “some negative and some positive.”
“It was a great opportunity to take part in some political act,” he added, even though Occupy Polson may have been negative in some locals’ eyes.
Parents Dale Hannon, Natalie Malaterre, Elizabeth and John Laimbeer and Becky and Gary Dupuis came by to show support.
With music, cookies from Elizabeth Laimbeer and pizza and breadsticks from Stageline Pizza, the students braved the cold and made themselves heard.
The kids had planned to protest from Jan. 2 to Feb. 1, spending as much time as they could before and after school and extracurricular activities. They decided on Jan. 4 to curtail their protest on the Lake County Courthouse lawn because of those many outside activities, such as basketball, speech and debate, schoolwork and work.
Being required to pack up canopies, tables and chairs before and after each session as well as only being allowed to stay on the lawn until 7 p.m. were other factors leading to their shortened occupation.
“We received some great ideas from the community, and we are going to keep working with our movement absolutely, and continue it in whatever way we can, whether that be more protests or something of a different nature,” Frissell explained in an e-mail.
The students collected about 100 signatures and will send their petition on to Montana’s Senators and Representative to show community support for their issues.
