6th grade Rally for Access SCR

Luz felt anxious as she stood in the hallway holding her flyers. She probably would have been even more nervous if her best friend hadn’t volunteered to help. Having Lavonne with her made it a lot easier for Luz to explain what she was fighting for.

Lavonne was really good at talking to the other students. Luz, however, was not. She didn’t think that telling her classmates would do any good.

As a group of eighth-graders came striding down the hallway towards the two best friends, Luz held out the stack of flyers. Each flyer had a picture of the sink area in the girls’ bathroom.

“Hi, do you have a sec?” Luz mumbled. Continuing quickly before anyone had a chance to answer, she added, “I have trouble with the soap dispensers in the bathroom. These dispensers are long and skinny, and most people push them down with one hand while holding their other hand under the pipe. But I can’t really do that.”

“Why not?” one of the eighth-grade boys asked. “You look fine.”

“My arm is paralyzed from the elbow down,” Luz replied, looking at the floor. “I can move my shoulder, but the elbow and everything below doesn’t move.”

The eighth graders glanced at Luz’s left arm. It was a little skinnier than her right one, but if Luz was wearing a long-sleeved shirt like she usually did, it was hard to tell. Today, though, she had rolled up her left sleeve in preparation for talking to everyone.

“Well, can’t you just ask for help when you use the bathroom?” a girl with bangs and thin black hair asked.

Luz looked to Lavonne, silently asking her to chime in.

“Do you want to ask for help every time you wash your hands?” Lavonne asked. “The bathroom should be something everyone can use, without needing help for things they can usually do.”

The eighth graders left after that without saying much more, but they took flyers with them. Luz and Lavonne waited for the warning bell, and then they walked to their science class as Luz tried to steel herself for what she was about to do.

Lavonne and Luz together had asked their science teacher, Ms. Ohanian, if Luz could speak to the class before it started. Ms. Ohanian had agreed to set aside a couple of minutes during set-up time. As Luz walked to the front of the classroom, Lavonne passed out flyers.

“Listen up, class,” Ms. Ohanian announced, “Luz wants to share something with us.”

Actually, Luz wanted to roll her sleeve down and slump into her chair in the back of the classroom rather than talk about any of this. But a week ago, things changed. Outside of school, she had told Lavonne why she hated the school bathrooms, and Lavonne had replied that she could change things if she spoke out about it. Now, Luz was feeling nervous about speaking in front of her class, but when Lavonne gave her two huge thumbs up, Luz put her right hand over her left elbow and took a deep breath.

“Hi, everyone,” she began, “you know me from class but you don’t all know my whole story. I was in a car accident in fourth grade, and as a result my left arm doesn’t really move anymore. It’s just for show.”

Luz glanced around the room and saw the entire class staring at her arm. She hated feeling different from everyone else, so standing up and talking about her disability was painful. But Luz gave her head a quick shake and continued on, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

“It’s hard for me to use the school bathrooms. The door is really heavy and only opens with a knob. My doctor told me that moving a knob can cause damage to my wrist, and advised me to look for rooms with handles—but there aren’t any bathroom doors like that in our school. Plus, the soap dispensers in our bathrooms are the kind you need two moving hands for. So,” she continued, “after school on Thursday, Lavonne and I are going to sit in the principal’s office to ask for new doors, handles, and soap dispensers. We’d like you to join us. Um…thank you?”

As Luz sat down, a few kids applauded. She breathed, relieved, and smiled when classmates called out “Good job!” But she was still worried that nobody would show up at her rally.

When Luz and Lavonne arrived at the principal’s office on Thursday afternoon, they gasped. Just about every student from their science class was standing in the office—and some even brought friends! Classmates held signs that said things like “Bathroom Access Now” or pictures of single-hand push soap dispensers and doors with levers. The office was so full that some of her supporters ended up standing in the hallway.

Luz’s cheeks were red from smiling when the principal arrived. He looked around and asked, “What’s all this?”

Luz looked over at Lavonne. Luz was still nervous, but she felt so good about her classmates’ support. She took a deep breath and looked at the principal.

“I’m Luz,” she said, “and I’m here to talk about bathroom accessibility.”