Education
Volunteers Help Immigrant Parents Get Their Kids to School With the ‘Walking School Bus’
Since federal immigration agents began ramping up operations in Chicago communities, residents have come together to support their neighbors. In Albany Park, a group of mothers and educators recognized the need for assistance and initiated what they call the walking school bus.
“The moment that the raids started happening and people started getting pulled off the street, you could just see it,” volunteer Alyssa May said. “You could see less students, less families, less vendors. And it really did change. It just became a really quiet place.”
In response, parents, educators and neighbors decided to step up.
May runs one of the daily walking routes for an elementary school in Albany Park — stepping in to help parents who are afraid to leave their home to take their kids to school.
May estimated that 80 to 100 kids get picked up each day.
Those interviewed asked WTTW News not to identify the school over concerns about ongoing immigration enforcement.
Teacher Dulce Jimenez said the walking school bus gives kids some sense of normalcy. She said students have gotten to know the volunteers and like walking to school with their friends — “kind of not even realizing the distraction that was created and what we’re trying to close off for them.”
It’s a growing movement among Chicago residents taking action to resist and protect their communities from what the Trump administration is calling “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“It is really very heartening to see just how much we will all show up to be a part of making sure that all of our kids are safe, that all of our people are safe,” said Maggie Cullerton Hooper, one of the volunteers who spearheaded the walking school bus.
May, who is also a mother, said volunteering her time is the right thing to do.
“You could kind of sense at pick-up the fear of some of the kids of, like, will I come home to an empty house?” May said. “We still have to sit with that and know that that is a reality, but at least they are getting one bright simple spot every day.”
Cullerton Hooper said they hope more schools will adopt this initiative and collaborate with one another to implement similar efforts. Anyone interested in learning more can email [email protected].
