SPOKANE, Wash. – Students at Lewis and Clark High School participated in a walkout on Tuesday to channel their frustrations into a constructive demonstration. Jim Leighty, a protest organizer, expressed pride in the students’ efforts to make a difference.
“I am so proud of those students and proud that they are having these feelings, they want to make a difference, and they are making a difference,” said Leighty.
Leighty emphasized the educational value of civic engagement beyond the classroom.
“It’s civics, they’re interacting with their community, they’re learning about politics, they’re having a voice, we should be encouraging this. We should be encouraging this education of knowing what’s going on in your world and the fact that you can change it,” he said.
Ava Swigart, a student organizer with Spokane Students for Human Decency, explained the motivation behind the protest.
“Young people right now have a lot of anger and anger can be dangerous, because if it’s not utilized and turned into something useful it can turn into hatred. And so we wanted to turn young people’s anger into something tangible and in this case it was a student walk out,” said Swigart.
Leighty noted that students’ frustrations extend beyond school concerns.
“I’ve seen a lot more fear and uncertainty. Students are worried about leaving their family members and coming home and maybe they’re gone,” said Leighty.
Swigart echoed the sentiment of urgency among students.
“Right now it seems like things are moving so fast, especially in our nation. It’s tiring, it’s exhausting and students are fed up,” she said.
Leighty highlighted the importance of being heard.
“People want to be heard, right? They have all this stuff boxed up in them and they just want to be heard,” said Leighty.
In 2025, the Spokane Police Department introduced their Dialogue Team to foster communication and safety during protests. Officer Karl Richardson described the team’s purpose.
“Our sole purpose is to build relationships with our community members in a way that helps enhance their public safety, and also encourages and protects their right to first amendment activities,” said Richardson.
Leighty praised the Dialogue Team’s approach to maintaining peace at local protests.
“They’re not so much looking at shutting it down or having an order to disperse or anything like that. They want to keep protests going, but if there is someone there breaking the law they want to be able to take care of that,” said Leighty.
He noted that the Dialogue Team has improved perceptions between protesters and law enforcement.
“Now having this conversation, we’re all taking a break from the arguments and saying, okay let me look at it from your view and have a better understanding of where you’re coming from,” said Leighty.
This new perspective has contributed to more peaceful protests in Spokane.
“It makes a big difference, you know in a world where people do not care about your feelings, having this communication, getting to know each other, it really helps us have a better understanding of how our world works, and it really makes it so that our community comes together and works together instead of driving us apart. So dialogue is really important,” said Leighty.
