Well-wishers offer food, drink and cheers as more than 125 educators travel 110 miles to seek better funding

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

“Wool socks, that’s what I need,” says the retired teacher Robert Niemi, 68, as he takes off his white cotton socks in an effort to keep his feet dry and prevent blisters.

Oklahoma teachers take school funding quest on the road for 110-mile march Read more

Niemi is one of more than 125 teachers and their supporters marching 110 miles to demand action on badly needed classroom supplies.

They left Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday for a seven-day walk to the state capital, Oklahoma City.

“Yesterday, I only made it halfway, but today I hope to make it all the way to Bristow,” adds Niemi as a blast of wind hits us in the face.

As news helicopters constantly hover overhead broadcasting the march down historic Route 66, neighbors have begun to gather outside their homes to provide food, water and words of encouragement to the marchers on their grueling trek.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I feel like the teachers deserve more money,’ said Alex Hutchins, 14. Photograph: Mike Elk/The Guardian

“I must have eaten at least 11 bananas today,” says Aaron Baker, an Oklahoma City eighth-grade US history teacher. “People just keep giving them to me.”

As we pass by a grove of red bud trees, the official state trees, outside of Wild Prairie Horse, Oklahoma, a retired school librarian named Carol has set up with her drawing pad. “It’s just so inspiring,” says Carol as she stands in a coat.

As she talks, two teenage girls on a quad bike offer their support. Mykahla Parsck, 15, drives the vehicle as her friend Alex Hutchins, 14, hangs on to her friend’s hip while clutching a sign saying “We Love Our Teachers”.

“I feel like the teachers deserve more money,” says Hutchins, “and the textbooks are so old that I am using one my dad used when he was in school.”



Annie Overosee McGill, a kindergarten teacher at Burroughs Elementary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, says: “I will do anything for my kids. They deserve to have better funding for the classrooms. I will do anything for them, including marching to the capital to prove our point to the legislators.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kids join the teachers’ rally at the state capital on Wednesday. Photograph: J Pat Carter/AFP/Getty Images

“Kindergarten is an awesome year of learning for kids,” she adds. “They are like your kids: you take care of them, you got to see them grow. They are always a part of you and I’d do anything for them.”

“Y’all keep on fighting,” says Beverly Langley, 75, as she hands out water outside of her family’s smokehouse, Okie Family BBQ, outside Bristow. “Don’t give up, just keep on pushing.”

Langley says nearly all the customers coming into her family’s smokehouse have been supportive of the strikers.

“I tell people right now: it’s for the kids, and I think people understand that,” says Langley. “The rich got plenty of money ... they just don’t want to give any to us.”