Souhegan High School Climate Walkout organizer Simonne Dodge addresses her peers at a podium on Sept. 27.

AMHERST – In the midst of what many perceive as a global climate crisis, one Souhegan High School student decided to step up and take action by leading a Climate Walkout during school hours on Sept. 27.

Simonne Dodge, a senior, has been following the story of 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg since midway through last year, completing a whole project on her for school.

After becoming inspired by Thunberg’s work, Dodge set out to bring awareness to this issue right from the small town of Amherst. What started as just an idea less than two weeks ago came to fruition when dozens upon dozens of her peers exited the school to join her outside, uniting to fight for the future they would like to see.

“I think it’s so important for the younger generation to speak up and have a voice in what’s happening, especially surrounding climate change, which is going to have such a large effect on our generation and our children and grandchildren,” Dodge said.

As students poured out onto a patio at 10:10 a.m., they had the opportunity to sign pledges to use reusable water bottles and describe methods for how the school can be more environmentally friendly. She hopes to continue the conversation that began Friday and put some of those ideas into action.

Once everyone had settled in, Dodge and another young activists took to a podium to deliver speeches to a sea of students, who were also joined by some school staff members. Dodge was able to secure a special speaker, Co-Chair of the New Hampshire Legislative Youth Advisory Council Harriet Shapiro-Barnard. Both addressed the students before them, some of whom carried signs featuring various climate messages.

“I think that it is a really beautiful thing, how many students are really gathering and fighting for this and I think that it really shows and is a symbol of a new time in our country and a new wave of activism,” Shapiro-Barnard said.

She has taken a year off from school to work in the political world, but would be a junior in high school otherwise. However, she said she has enough credits to graduate and came down from the Plymouth area to speak Friday morning.

In less than two weeks, Dodge was able to organize the walkout. Although she spearheaded the event, she said she reached out to some other girls who helped work on some of the details, such as emailing people. Dodge said she is fortunate to be a part of a high school that is “very modern in a sense.”

“The main focus here is we want to bring awareness to the climate crisis and get people talking about it because that’s the first step toward action,” Dodge said.

She said that it is really importation for the youth to step up. She said if enough people stand up for what they believe in and have their voices heard, that is how major changes happen.

“I hope that’s what’s happening here, and I hope that there is action that comes out of it,” Dodge said.