In protest against President-elect Donald Trump, several SCHS students participated in a school wide walkout on Thursday afternoon.

Participants flooded the quad and then the sidewalks, chanting “not my president.” Many wore signs that read,“Make America Racist, Sexist, and Homophobic again” (a play off of Trump’s slogan) while some, like senior Alyssa Arechiga, held up signs saying what the crowd was chanting.

“Donald Trump shouldn’t be our president,” Arechiga said. “He wants to send us back.”

Arechiga was referring to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the Mexican-American border and send immigrants “back where they came from.”

According to senior Suzanne Chipana, in addition to protesting Trump’s “unrealistic policies,” protesters were mainly voicing concern about Trump’s sexist, racist, homophobic and xenophobic attitude.

Senior Daniel Sweet said that he was protesting because of Trump’s ignorant remarks throughout his campaign.

“He’s dangerous,” Sweet said. “I think his influence on America could really turn this place into a dangerous place to live in. Especially for our youth.”

The walkout was promoted through students’ social media. Posts on Snapchat encouraged students to walk out of their sixth period classes around 1:20 p.m. Senior Tamara Pantic was one of the students who not only walked out but stepped up to lead the crowd and start the chants. She even gave a speech to protesters once they circled back to the school.

Pantic said that nobody is really sure who initiated the walkout, but she and her peers suspect that social media, word of mouth, general discontent among students and inspiration from other Bay Area protests were all causes that contributed to what she described as a “beautiful, spontaneous” moment.

Alongside Pantic, sophomore Muddassir Chowdhury reined in the crowd, oftentimes using a whistle to direct protesters.

“We need to show that we don’t want a man full of hate to run our futures,” Chadhury said.

In addition to participants’ efforts to keep the protest peaceful and organized, school administration and the Santa Clara Police Department did their best to make sure protesters were safe. Vice Principal of Counseling and Discipline Tony Lam opened the main entrance gate to let the swarm of students out of school. Lam said his main concern was safety when it came to the protest.

“People have the right to peaceful protest,” Lam said. “It’s our job to keep them safe, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Police officers on motorcycles rode alongside the crowd as escorts, keeping them on the sidewalks.

The efforts of school administration and the SCPD paid off. Pantic believes the protest allowed students to voice their concerns in a peaceful and productive way.

“It was amazing to see the support we had, the support being shown for the marginalized,” she said. “We are not deaf to the things Donald Trump has said about our Muslim, Latinx and African American brothers and sisters, and we are not blind to the violence against them by his supporters.”

Pantic and her family are Serbian immigrants. She says that though she’s an immigrant, she “understands her privilege as a white citizen of the United States,” and she wants to use that to help people who may not be comfortable using their voices be heard.

Though several students left their classes to join the protest and though they may have agreed with the reasons students decided to walk out, some teachers encouraged their students to stay at school.

Spanish teacher Amanda Vrabel said that though dealing with the results of the election has been hard for her too, she was not in favor of protesting.

“Leaving your educational day to go make a point to me seems counterproductive. Especially in California, I feel like we take a lot of pride in our acceptance and our diversity,” Vrabel said. “It’s just not the right message to send.”

In California, 61 percent voted for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and 33 percent voted for Trump. Though California is a “blue” state, SCHS students believe that the protest was a way for students to make it clear that they did not and would not stand for Trump’s rhetoric.

“Many people are afraid of their communities no matter how liberal their area might be,” Pantic said.

On Thursday evening, Santa Clara Unified School District Superintendent Stanley Rose posted a message to the community on the SCUSD’s website. He attended the protest.

“Schools will continue to be safe places where these students can find friendship with other students who are not similarly situated,” Rose wrote. “They will find caring, competent adults who will help them with their fears and try to put them in a position to be ready to learn, even over these great obstacles. Though educators ache for the pain our children and their parents are suffering, they remain a safe harbor for all students.”

At the end of his message, Rose made a call to action. He requested that we come together not only as a nation but as a community.

“Now, it is time to heal,” he said.

Reporting contributed by Miranda Hunt.