Children take over SF streets in a peace rally and march

Charlotte Peterson’s fourth grade class at Buena Vista Horace Mann took to the streets Wednesday morning in a march for “peace and love.” Charlotte Peterson’s fourth grade class at Buena Vista Horace Mann took to the streets Wednesday morning in a march for “peace and love.” Photo: Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle / Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle Photo: Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle / Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Children take over SF streets in a peace rally and march 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Children as young as 5 took to the streets of San Francisco Wednesday morning in a march calling for peace and love in the post-election era of Donald Trump.

Nearly 500 kids from Buena Vista Horace Mann and Fairmount elementary schools participated in a 10 a.m. march on Valencia Street, from 18th to 23rd streets, school officials said.

“[The march] was made to reinforce the idea of taking care of our immigrants and that we refuse speech about racism and sexism,” said Mariela Gonzalez, a sixth-grade Spanish teacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann.

Many children carried signs that read, “Donald Trump Belongs in the Dump” and “Build Kindness Not Walls.”

Sheila Nickolopoulos, a 41-year-old San Francisco resident, called her 8-year-old daughter, Sylvia, “the little activist.”

Sylvia, a third grader, said she is worried about President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

“I feel like he’s going to take all my friends back to Mexico,” she said.

The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests involving middle school and high school students walking out of class and taking to the streets in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and other Bay Area schools following the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani