Simon Sanchez High students to host rally this Friday

Simon Sanchez High School (SSHS) students are done waiting.

One SSHS student said, “We’ve been given false promises these past years for a new campus.”

And another added, “It makes me feel kind of angry that we are pushed aside.”

Seniors Chery Bartolome and Jiana Pico are just a couple of the students that voiced their frustrations with the longtime, ongoing issue.  

Bartolome said, “It’s been really hard because we’re kind of homeless right now, we’re being tossed around and it’s really sad and nothing is being done to rebuild our school.”

“I do feel like we’re the second priority kind of  because we’ve been waiting really long so it’s kind of like okay, we something to put aside? Are we not as important as you say we are? We are the students, we are the kids of the future, aren’t we kind of the priority,” added Pico.

They, along with other school clubs came together and are organizing a rally, to bring to light to Guam's leaders the one thing they want immediately.

“Our purpose is to basically leave a mark before we graduate and it’s hard to do so without a campus…before we leave, we would want to at least, kind of start that and give a new campus to our future students,” said Bartolome.

From rodent infestations to classrooms falling apart, the Yigo school had been operating in rather less than ideal conditions for decades. 

The aftermath of Typhoon Mawar had ultimately put the nail in the coffin for the school, leaving students and staff no choice but to share campuses with the John F. Kennedy High Islanders.

Pico said, “It’s been really hard, especially since I live all the way up in Yigo so even though we have a different schedule, it’s still harder for me for transportation reasons I don’t really know when the bus comes here because I either show up at the bus stop too early or too late if I don’t have a definite schedule.”

She also added, “I agree with everyone and it’s hard not having your own campus, having our own home basically.”

Guam Department of Education superintendent Kenneth Swanson said he is in full support of the Sharks’ rally

“I encourage them to stay visible and it is important. Sometimes we have to put a little pressure on the public entities that are responsible for this…I can’t underscore enough how important it is. I know it’s important to the community and the faster that this project gets underway then the better it’ll be for everyone,” said Swanson.

He reassured Sanchez stakeholders GDOE is doing as much as they can to place them into a campus of their own.

He added, “They also need to know that we’re working to have them have a good temporary campus to go to school in that puts them in a better situation than what we have right now.”

The Sanchez High rebuild rally is set for this Friday at 4 in the afternoon at the JFK High intersection. 

The push for a new campus also led to the Sanchez Sharks raising funds on their own selling t-shirts with messages that drive home the point with these simple words.