Around 400 students aged four to 12, teachers and parents from UCLA Lab School protested against climate change in Dickson Plaza on Tuesday.

UCLA Lab School, an institution serving students pre-K through sixth grade, organized the rally as part of its annual Creek Week – a period where students engage in environmental activism to honor and maintain the Stone Canyon Creek, which runs through the UCLA campus.

The rally included a march from the Lab School along Charles E. Young Drive to Janss Steps. Students gave speeches and made custom signs in support of the environment. Along the march, students chanted slogans in both English and Spanish, such as, “No more coal, no more oil. Keep your carbon in the soil!”

Tuesday’s rally was planned by UCLA Lab School’s Family School Alliance’s Green Committee. Eli Lipmen, co-chair of the school’s Green Committee, said one of the rally’s purposes was to show students what peaceful protesting looks like and how they can make a difference.

“We work to teach them different lessons,” Lipmen said. “Today is one lesson. It’s about how to protest peacefully.”

Lipmen also said the rally aims to educate students about democracy and how students can voice their opinions in a peaceful way.

Creek Week also involves events such as environmental cleanups, the planting of native vegetation and a farmer’s market, Lipmen added.

Renata Gusmao-Garcia Williams, UCLA Lab School’s interim principal, said the rally was planned in collaboration with educators, parents and staff.

“They all come together to talk to the children about the importance of being activists – when it comes to climate change – and really being changemakers,” she said.

Gusmao-Garcia Williams also said public advocacy and the notion of contributing to global society is a large part of UCLA Lab School’s curriculum and instruction.

Mallory Postaer, co-chair of the UCLA Lab School’s FSA Green Committee, said there was high student engagement in preparing for the rally with students designing posters and practicing chants.

Postaer, whose kindergarten-age daughter attends UCLA Lab School, said she’s appreciated UCLA Lab School’s focus on sustainability. Postaer added that her daughter asked her if she drives an electric car.

“Kids do care,” Postaer said.

Cip Scarry, whose child attends the Lab School, said he hoped his child left the rally with an understanding of the simplicity of rally activism.

“We walked along a simple route. We got to a place that mattered to us,” Scarry said. “The top of these steps, we made a statement, and then we go back, and it doesn’t hurt anybody.”

Scarry added that his child enjoyed making signs leading up to the rally.

“It’s pretty cool to see kids doing things that a lot of grown-ups can become apathetic to,” Scarry said. “The biggest thing is for them and their experience.”