The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A pril 11,2019 theifp.ca Spring is back, and so is our 14th Annual Super Spring Special*ON NOW ! - Oil & Filter (Includes up to 6 litres regular oil.) - Complete top to bottom check over - Installation of summer tires (already on rims) included. - $5.00 Tim's Card - Windshield Washer Fluid eXTraS $8995 Call for an Appointment *Most Vehicles. Prices are +HST 45 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown 905.877.7958 hassellsauto@bellnet.ca • hassellautomotive.comSALES & SERVICE $69956995 Only Synthetic oil (up to 6 litres) Gold 2018 Halton Hills Silver 2018 Halton Hills Hundreds of students at Georgetown District High School joined thousands of Ontario students across the province in a protest show- ing solidarity. The student-organized protest is in response to pro- posed cuts to education made by the Ford govern- ment - including potential cuts to staffing, increases in class sizes, and several funding cuts. Gray Whipp, a Grade 11 student at GDHS, found out about the provincewide planned protest online and started spreading the word. "Our education is impor- tant and we shouldn't have to sacrifice that for budget cuts," Whipp said. According to documen- tation available from stu- dentssayno.ca - where par- ticipating students are or- ganized - government cuts of nearly $1 billion would be made to education jobs funding. At 1:15 on April 4, hun- dreds of students organized on the school's athletic field before marching to the front of the school to protest. "We're protesting the budget cuts Doug Ford has implemented," Graydon Ba- teman, a Grade 10 student, said. In December, the Pro- gressive Conservative gov- ernment slashed $25 mil- lion from the budget ear- marked for specialized school programming. "Teachers are being cut," Bateman said, "it's already cramped enough in a lot of classrooms." Students in grades four to eight will see class sizes grow from 22 students per class to 28, but studentssay- no.ca claims that class sizes could grow as high as 45 stu- dents per class. For Bate- man, the cuts will affect tech and arts courses. "The art department is currently half of my semes- ter this term," Bateman said. "If I don't have what I need, and develop my skills, I really don't know what I'm going to do." Bateman said that he wanted to go into a pro- gramming or design field, and cuts to technology pro- grams would impact his ca- reer goals. "I don't want my future to be hindered because of a politician who has never set foot in a classroom in his adult life," Nadia Nikolov, a student at GDHS, said. Tasmiah Khan, deputy prime minister of the school's student union, helped to organize the walk out with Whipp. "I really believe in fight- ing for our rights," Khan said. The group started plan- ning the walkout two weeks ago and hoped to see about 100 students attend; instead, hundreds of GDHS students attended. Khan said that she took issue with mandatory on- line courses as well as cuts to autism funding. "They have a right to ed- ucation," Khan said. "We can't vote," Khan said. "This is how we can use our voices." While teachers observed the event, they declined to comment on the walk out. Four schools in Halton Hills were registered to take part in the protest - includ- ing GDHS, Christ the King Catholic Secondary School, Silver Creek Public School, and Mckenzie-Smith Ben- net Public School in Acton. Studentssayno.ca pro- vides a guide for student or- ganizers, complete with a list of potential roles neces- sary for a protest, and strat- egies for getting the word out. The website also advises students that protesting is a legal right and students cannot be legally punished for holding a peaceful rally. Information about the provincial walk out is avail- able at studentssayno.ca. NEWS GEORGETOWN STUDENTS JOIN PROVINCEWIDE WALK OUT BRYAN MYERS bmyers@metroland.com THE ISSUE: CUTS TO PROVINCIAL EDUCATION LOCAL IMPACT: STUDENTS ACROSS HALTON HILLS RALLIED AGAINST CUTS DURING A PROVINCEWIDE WALK-OUT STORY BEHIND THE STORY While the walk-out was widely publicized, reporter Bryan Myers was contacted by local student organizers. Neja Rajapakse (left), Lexi Cormier Bell, Aaron Mattear and Kaleight Hawes, all students at Georgetown District High School, attended the student-run protest. Bryan Myers/Metroland