Idaho Dispatch

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High School Students Hold ‘School Strike for Climate Education’ at Idaho Capitol, Criticize Little and IFF

By • December 14, 2021

High School Students in the Treasure Valley area held a ‘school strike for climate education’ last Friday.

Shiva Rajbhandari was the event organizer and is a junior at Boise High School. Rajbhandari told Idaho Dispatch that Idaho has the weakest climate change science standards in the country in K-12 schooling.

According to Rajbhandari, approximately 250 people attended the event, and that group did not encounter any counter-protesters. Rajbhandari also said that students signed up to “get involved” from local high schools, including Boise, Borah, Capital Eagle, Meridian, and Timberline.

Rajbhandari sent Idaho Dispatch an email with a description of the event:

The event began with speeches from Boise High Junior and organizer of the strike, Shiva Rajbhandari, 17, Boise State Freshman and graduate from Coeur d’Alene High School, Amanda Thompson, 18, and Eagle High Senior and Miss Teen Idaho Earth, Halley Hoellwarth, 18. An open mic followed allowing several middle school students from Anser Charter to share why they believe climate education is important. Then, protesters entered the Capitol and placed sticky notes with reasons why they want thorough K-12 climate science standards on Governor Little’s office doorway. The students all signed a petition demanding Governor Little take action to teach climate science in schools, which was also delivered.

In addition, in the email to Idaho Dispatch, Rajbhandari provided a link to an Instagram video of the speeches from the event.

In Rajbhandari’s speech, he told attendees in part,

We’re here today because the people who work in that building are prioritizing politics over our future. Idaho has the weakest K-12 climate science standards in the country. Every year, the legislature uses climate science as political football, undermining the life’s work of educators and scientists, and doing so at the expense of our education and our future.

Rajbhandari criticized the Idaho Freedom Foundation in particular and agreed with an attendee that he “hates” the organization.

Here is part of what Rajbhandari said about the IFF:

This group has many of Idaho’s elected leaders bought and paid for and is funneling conspiracy theories about science to support the big money interests of, guess who? Guess. Fossil fuel executives, from out of state!

Rajbhandari went on to say,

The Idaho Freedom Foundation rules by fear and the Idaho legislature is truly scared. Scared of the Foundation taking away their campaign contributions, or running challengers against them. But we aren’t scared, are we? We can speak truth to money.

Idaho Dispatch reached out to IFF’s Vice President Dustin Hurst for comment on Rajbhandari’s criticisms.

Here is what Hurst told Idaho Dispatch,

This year, IFF has invested in projects to show how the government school system fails and indoctrinates students. Perhaps we wasted our money, because these students showed up and made the exact same case for free. Clearly, these kids are simply parroting lies fed to them by their liberal teachers. Our education system is broken and Idaho’s elected officials would be wise to fix it so this type of left-wing indoctrination stops.

We should note that these kids have few, if any, facts on their side. The Idaho Freedom Foundation does not endorse candidates, nor does it contribute to candidates for public office. Instead, IFF focuses on developing freedom-first policy solutions to make Idaho an even better place to raise a family, start a business, and pursue one’s life calling. Instead of attending left-wing rallies, these kids should spend their time learning how to conduct effective, honest research. It’s clear they sorely lack in that area.

Rajbhandari also heavily criticized Governor Brad Little, saying that he was “all talk and no action.” He also criticized Little for not standing up to the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

Idaho Dispatch reached out to Little’s office for a response, but we have not received one at this time.

For the remainder of Rajbhandari’s speech, he mentions various reasons why climate change science must be taught in schools. He ties forest fires, temperature increases, heat waves, and more to climate change.

A BSU freshman and Coeur d’Alene High graduate, Amanda Thompson also spoke at the event. She mainly spoke of the need for more snow and more action by Idaho’s elected officials to fight climate change.

The final scheduled speaker for the event was Halley Hoellwarth, a student at Eagle High School and Miss Teen Idaho Earth. Hoellwarth said she mostly learned about climate change from the news and from a book written by Greta Thunberg. She said that students in many areas of the education system need to know more about climate change so that they can make necessary changes in the workforce and that in northern Idaho areas students are learning about climate science.

In closing, Hoellwarth encouraged attendees to vote in the Republican Primary taking place in May of 2022.

After the speeches were concluded, event attendees put sticky notes on the doorway of Little’s office on why they wanted climate science as part of K-12 education and left a petition to the governor with his office.

Below are a few of the images sent to Idaho Dispatch from the event:

Amazon Outlet


Tags: Amanda Thompson, Climate Science, Halley Hoellwarth, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Shiva Rajbhandari

13 thoughts on “High School Students Hold ‘School Strike for Climate Education’ at Idaho Capitol, Criticize Little and IFF

  1. Why can’t college kids just take care of their own lives before trying to control everyone else’s? Anthropomorphic climate change is a lie. No amount of money will change the weather. Learn to live with it instead of promoting the never ending taxation of the fuel sources we had plenty of prior to this administration. It isn’t all or nothing! But no worries, these mass injections continue, there won’t be a population to worry about. Part of the plan.

  2. Really..teach about the ice age, the climate change that happened when the antarctic was tropical….the climate change that eliminated the dinosaurs…holy cow its all climate change. To all things there is a season…. goes ’round an ’round
    And the things they are wanting for “green” energy are just as destructive as what we are currently using. They all take mining, petroleum, or electricity to manufacture or maintain, or dispose of.

  3. All the comments from these children are confirmation of the curriculum and liberal teachers under whose leftist indoctrination they sit under, including the BSU freshman (no shock she chose that place to attend college…pffft!!) that spewed even more hogwash idealogy from Greta “whats-her-lip” who has no relevance whatsoever.

    Garbage in, garbage out…

    1. I agree. Teachers have become omnipotent in our country. Their union puts the Teamsters to shame. They seem to spend most of their time spewing liberal agendas and whining for their oh so hard work and long, long, long tedious hours of classroom management for more and more money and benefits. America needs an overhaul of the public school system, or school taxes should be eliminated to allow people to send their children to private schools. Why is not free enterprise included in the school system?

      1. The N.E.A. is by far the most powerful (and evil) union in our country and has been for many years. Operating in the shadows and controlling the entire public school system across the nation…it needs to be dismantled and investigated, in that order.

        As for tuition tax credits, or allowing taxes to be applied to private schools or homeschooling costs, the (not so) hidden travesty is that the government is insisting that any monies allocated in that fashion would come with strings attached to force the organization receiving them to accept and/or adhere to the curriculum the government “requires.”

        It starts at the ballot box…we all need to, as Governor DeSantis of Florida recently stated, “punish the Democrats” (and RINO’s) on voting day! Then go clean house elsewhere on a local level as well. United we stand, divided we…

  4. Id suggest they look at the TIME magazine covers over the last 40-50 years to see all the crisis’s we’ve manage to avoid somehow.. pretty amazing how lucky we always end up to be

  5. Just goes to show, their parents are just as stupid as the children are.
    Schools are a lost cause. Lost in their control, and fear mongering.
    If this is not stopped, and stopped now, we will lose Idaho to these morons.

  6. I agree Ray!
    More brainwashing! If they think Greta is their mentor…..I’m afraid it’s a lost cause. Why don’t they teach these kids some common sense?

  7. These incessant cries for action for “disasters” that never pan out are indicative of a propaganda industry that has now invaded the classroom. Over and over, these mythical doomsdays do not transpire. There are 99% of actual climate scientists that never get published that need to be heard from as much as that 1% that is portrayed as ALL of climate scientists. The much repeated lie that “97%” of climate scientists claim we are in danger is a powerful tool that brainwashes these kids about science sources. With the MSM carrying the water for these pawns in our schools, we will sacrifice out nation for a false emergency.

  8. If they want climate education, maybe they can whip out their smart phones and google it while they wait for their candy crush lives to refill.

    Bless their hearts.

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