This article originally appeared in Al Jazeera.
From the first minute Ellen Shepherd – a kindergarten-to-5th-grade special education teacher – picketed Thursday morning, along with other school employees in Elkins, West Virginia, community members showed their support.
“It was amazing,” said Shepherd, who is also the president of the Randolph County Education Association. “People were stopping to offer support, coffee, doughnuts, stuff all day long,” she added.
“Most importantly, those who weren’t sure about was going on stopped and asked us, so we were able to explain why we are here, what we are doing, and what got us to this point.”
After months of writing legislators, attending hearings, and holding educational pickets before and after school, the three teachers’ unions representing educators across the US state of West Virginia announced a collective walkout for Thursday and Friday, forcing all public schools to close.
On Friday afternoon, the unions announced the strike will continue on Monday.
The teachers are demanding higher wages and better benefits as they struggle to afford rising healthcare costs.
On both Thursday and Friday, thousands sang and chanted at the state capitol building in Charleston, calling for an agreement before the end of the legislative session on March 10.
According to local media, teachers in the state set up food banks to ensure students who depend on school meals were fed during the strike.