On Jan. 30, Branson students participated in one of the hundreds of walkouts across the country protesting ICE and their recent actions.
Earlier that morning, it had been unclear whether the protest would happen. The history elective Public Opinion & Current Events had planned a current events discussion in the Commons for lunch, but there were no plans to protest outside of school.
Talia Di Manno, history department chair and teacher, who helped create the Public Opinion class, said that the class had discussed “ICE and what was happening in Minneapolis,” adding that “students were trying to unpack what ICE is and what their tactics are” and that they “largely questioned how it came to be that ICE committed an act of violence against someone.”
Di Manno said her class “had no idea a walkout was going to happen,” and that teachers were required to hold class because “[the school] has a commitment to parents to remain open.” Instead, the Commons classroom was designed to “allow students to engage in discourse” during lunch.
On Friday, other students were also unsure about any planned action.
“I’d heard from some friends at other schools and seen on social media that they were walking out, but I wasn’t sure if we were going to as well. Everyone was talking about it, but no one had any plans,” Lily Green ’27 said.
Isabella Lopez ‘27, who was a student organizer of the protest, said “the process of planning this walkout was really overnight. We sent an email to a group of faculty and staff, saying that we wanted to address the situation of ICE, but we weren’t sure how.”
It appears they figured it out, as around 10:30 that morning, Andrea Martinez ’28 sent out an all-school email inviting the Branson community to walk out with her and a few other student organizers, including Lopez.
“This is not an excuse to leave campus and hangout with friends or go home … The more people we have, the more we are able to protect each other,” Martinez wrote in her message.
After a poster-making session in the new World Ready Center (formally known as the Old Dining Hall), hundreds of students of all grades walked out from the Arts Quad at 12:30. Their route followed Fernhill Avenue into downtown San Anselmo, where they walked down Sir Francis Drake to the intersection with San Rafael.
“I wasn’t sure how many Branson kids would go, but almost everyone I know ended up coming. At the intersection, a huge group of Archie Williams students were already standing,” Green said. “We joined them and held up our signs to passing cars.”
The support the student received from the Marin community was overwhelming.
“At times, it felt like a constant stream of cars honking or flashing their lights at us. The drivers smiled and waved, and even videoed us. They all looked so excited,” said Adeline Newby ’26.
After a fair amount of time in that spot, the protestors walked to outside of San Anselmo Town Hall, where they continued to raise awareness for their cause.
“I’m really proud about the turnout here. It’s a lot more students than I think we all were expecting. We all saw the email this morning at school — it wasn’t really what we were planning on, but I really felt the energy and saw everyone starting to gather during lunch,” Carl Smith ’26 said at the protest. “I’m really proud of this school, and really glad that everyone was able to come together around such an important issue.”
Jeff Symonds, director of academics, said he was “appreciative students decided to wait until after the lunchtime conversations” and that it was “a real show of respect from student to student.”
“Schools are a complicated, wonderful place where people come together and make decisions and then talk them through,” Symonds said. “All the conversations I had with every member of the community were thoughtful and respectful.”
Alexandra Sebastiani ‘27, who participated in the walkout, said “I really hope that this fight for what is right and for what we all believe in for our country’s future can continue on.”
