Edmunds Middle School students finally raised the Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag; after working on getting the flag-raising approved for years.
What We Know:
- Firstly, in November, the Burlington School Board agreed to let the students raise the Black Lives Matter Flag. Edmunds paused classes for both Middle and Elementary School students to hold the afternoon flag-raising ceremony.
- According to a report from Burlington Free Press, members of the Youth Participatory Action Research Collective submitted a proposal to the Burlington School District School. The request moved if the student could fly the Black Lives Matter flag on campus on Tuesday, November 12.
- The proposal expressed that the students wanted to raise the BLM flag in the Spring. The students requested the flag-raising be done opening of Black History Month in February and taken down in June.
- The Burlington School Board passed the proposal unanimously.
- Some of the students commented on why this was important to them. In a press release from Burlington School District, Henry Tornwini, an Edmunds Middle School student, advised that, “Students of color make up 28% of the Edmund Middle School Community.” Also, Greta Ketterling, an 8th grader said, “We’ve had so many issues with just not being educated about the things that the black community goes through everyday and the struggles people of color have had.”
Edmunds Middle School is one of many schools to raise the Black Lives Matter flag in recent years. The Middle School surely can add themselves to the flag pack: Burlington High School, Montpelier High School, Rutland High School, and Champlain Valley Union High School.
