At 11 am on Thursday, January 20th, the Day of World-Wide Walkouts initiated by the Global Resistance Network, students at Charter Oak High School in Covina, California, took up this call and walked out of their classrooms to protest George W. Bush's inauguration for a second term.

Students were told about this walk out by a 15-year-old sophomore, Athena Robinson, on Wednesday. Robinson passed out flyers telling students what to do on Thursday. She also stood up and made announcements in some of her classes. When it was 11 am on Thursday, many students got up and simply walked out of their class.

"Some students said that their teachers were commanding them to come back into class when they were leaving," says Robinson, "but the students did not listen."

According to Robinson, there were approximately a few dozen or so students who walked out in protest of Bush's Inauguration. Students walked out and headed toward the main quad where they gathered and started chanting some slogans, which included shouting "F*ck Bush."

Some teachers of the school supported this walk out and even let their classes out at 11 am. Other teachers and faculty were not pleased by this walk out and started commanding the students in the quad to go back to class right away. But the students stood their ground and stayed in the quad to keep protesting.

When students started getting in trouble for defying the faculty, Robinson took responsibility for organizing and carrying out the walk out, sparing any other students from detention.

Robinson was then taken to the school office where she was told that she was suspended for the rest of the day and Friday as well. Some teachers from the school were shocked to hear of Robinson's suspension and believed that it was unnecessary. Robinson, however, does not see the suspension as that important and feels that the walk out was something worth doing to prove a point, regardless of the cost.

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James Michael Jimenez, 19, is a contributor to the Global Resistance Network Project.  He can be reached at neonwatt@yahoo.com.  Athena Robinson is a 15 years old student at Charter Oak High School.

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