CHARLOTTE, N.C. — About 200 students met at Queens University on Friday for an annual summit, and one of the topics discussed was ways they can voice their concerns over immigration in a healthy way.
Day Without Immigrants drew in thousands to uptown this year and students walked out of public schools, prompting police and extra staff to step in.
Elayne Constan d' Montreuil-Ramos is a freshman at Myers Park High School who moved to Charlotte a little over a year ago from a small town in Peru.
"It's been really hard because I didn't speak a word of English," Elayne said.
She has watched classmates protest and said, while she hasn't joined them, she's knows how they feel.
"I think it's just not fair that people refer to us as the 'bad people,'" she said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials are bracing for May Day on Monday, which will be another day of protests.
Ryan Grammatico works for the nonprofit organization Right Moves for Youth.
He partners with CMS and law enforcement agencies to figure out ways to talk about these types of issues.
He works with 1,800 CMS students across 32 schools.
On Friday, he was called to educate students on the right way to express their feelings without disrupting the classroom.
Jose Hernadez-Paras is the executive director for the Latin American Coalition. He also spoke with students on Friday and said he's not telling students not to protest, but rather be smart about it.
"Encouraging kids to be with their parents, because we don't want to them to walk out of school because I think that could be dangerous for the kids," Hernadez-Paras said.
CMS officials are trying a proactive approach to allow students' voices to be heard.
CMS Chief of Staff Earnest Winston said if students want to do something, they should tell an administrator.
"If a student contacts his or her principal and says, 'We want to have a march around the track or football stadium,' if they want to do that for 15-20 minutes, then return to class, we will allow that," he said.
CMS also said they have been talking with principals this week, and will have extra police and staff on hand Monday if they are needed.