“Teach your children well,” read a protest sign made by De Anza College student Pattsburgh Slims, 30, a computer science major. Slims said he hoped the line from the 1960s Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song of the same title would encourage older politicians to reminisce on the days that they themselves were young, and remind them of the 60s era protests they experienced as young students.

“It’s important to link the spirit of the 60s rebellion to today. This simple message has so many meanings to save education, like leading by example,” he said. “I think it can help to enlighten the future [of education].”

On Sunday, Feb. 28, while most students spent the day recuperating from the weekend or watching the final Olympic ceremony on television, others gathered on the De Anza College campus to start a week-long protest of the state’s budget cuts by building a Tent City.

“I’m just thinking about the generation before me fighting for their jobs and my fellow students fighting for their education. In my mind and heart, I really feel for everyone. We’re doing what I believe is right,” said Anmol Mirakhur, 18, co-president of the De Anza club Students For Justice.

In its third year at De Anza, Tent City has been organized by students to raise awareness on campus about the impact of the budget cuts and provide information on how other students can help, as well as promote the March 4 rallies to Cupertino City Hall and San Francisco.

“Tent City may look like it’s a bunch of fun but it has a purpose, De Anza is our home, and if you make it so that we can’t afford to live in our homes, we’re going to do something about it,” participant Sarah Jones said. “People need to know about this if they aren’t aware. People would be more apathetic to the community.”

On the first night, students from groups on campus including SFJ, ¡LEAD!, Wise37, Gay Straight Alliance, IMASS, APASL, DARE and the DASB worked together to assemble tents and organize a community tent, which served as an all-purpose utility center for food, recreation and electricity for students with phones and laptops.

“Happiness is sharing a tent with your friends,” Cain Rodriguez said. In a true communal fashion, strangers and friends alike shared their tents with one another, giving a sense of family to the cold and rain-soaked denizens of Tent City.

Cold, rainy, winter weather seemed to not faze any Tent City residents as they planned for and worked toward the March 4 rallies.

“I’ve never camped out in the rain,” Tent City Organizer Matt Bradley explained. “It’s inconvenient but it adds something unique and special to this experience. I think it does add an emphasis on how important this struggle is.”

Heavy rain caused some tents to flood, with some Tent City residents waking up with unwanted dampness.

Participant Chelsi Konsella was one individual whose tent had fallen victim to the rain. Though it was cold and wet, everyone dealt with it. “We had to,” she said.

Despite the obstacles from the rain, more students joined Tent City during the week, including nursing major Gabriel Rodriguez, 19.

“I wanted to come out and support the cause. I wasn’t going to let a little rain stop me. I’m excited to be here and use the best of my abilities to be another helping hand,” said Rodriguez.

Tent City had the support of many on campus. Throughout the week, students, staff and community members stopped by to show their support for the participants, sometimes donating food or supplies. SFJ Co-President Joseph Certeza said he was amazed at all the support Tent City was receiving.

“It’s ten times more support that I ever expected. So many teachers buying food for us and coming around and asking if there is anything they can do to make us more comfortable,” he said.

Jeremy Einowski, 20, a biology major, agreed with Certeza.”It’s great to have the staff on board and give us any sort of tools we need to make sure that we’re comfortable. They really seem to care,” he said.

Student Joseph Chavez, who could not participate in Tent City, stopped by to donate a 20-person tent.

“It’s just going to sit in my garage, so I may as well as give it to people who are going to put it to use,” Chavez said.

Nursing major, Michelle Nguyen, 19, also did not participate in Tent City, but stopped by the Community Tent to thank the participants for their dedication to protect education.

“Seeing how everyone cares so much is amazing,” Nguyen said.

Some students supported the cause by hanging out during school hours to pass out fliers and sign people up to attend March 4 protests.

Members of the Four Elements club stopped by to play music throughout the week, hoping to ignite interest in students who were passing by.

Four Elements member, OJ Custodio, who was unable to sleep over at Tent City, was excited to share his gift of music to support the cause because, he is passionate about protecting education.

“I love education and knowledge. Knowledge is a journey, and with budget cuts, no one can explore or work to their full potential, and it’s really holding us back,” said Custodio. “It irritates me that budget cuts are not only making it difficult to see a counselor,but stopping me from going further with my music.”

For contributions to the growth of Tent City, participants creatively used resources and connections for donations like tents, sleeping bags, power strips, water heaters, hot plates, a boom box and a TV.

Sharing resources among each other came naturally to Tent City particpants Felicia McMullen and Fernando Sanchez.

“I think that in any community, bringing something for others is vital and I should be thinking of [others]. I thought, ‘What can I do?’ I like to share, so I took advantage of my Whole Foods discount to help everyone,” McMullen said.

McMullen, a Whole Foods employee, was able to collect the end of the day’s left over food, bringing to Tent City cartons of sushi, slices of pizza, cups of soup and slices of cake for pennies on the dollar.

“I believe in the cause and everyone is sacrificing so much. I can’t help enough. I want to do more but I don’t have the money, so I use my resources,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez was able to bring back pies from his job at Marie Calendar’s every night. “It all comes from the heart,” Sanchez said.

Protestors bonded over eating donated food, getting to know each other and building cohesiveness during the week.

“I already knew some of the people here, but this experience has definitely brought me closer to the people I already know and helped me meet a lot of other really cool people,” said Konsella.

Communications major, Ellison Libiran, 20, was looking for political involvement when he joined the group late Wednesday night.

“Most interaction here at De Anza is so impersonal. I wanted to talk to people who are politically active and I thought ‘Why not join the [Tent City]?’,” Libiran said.

The Tent City community kept busy after school hours by creating signs for different marches.

“Our posters are a visual example of how much budget cuts affect us. They symbolize every single person who wants to have an education, and are denied their right for one,” said McMullen.

Tent City this year attracted media attention from KTVU2, CBS5, KRON4 and NBC3.

Bradley was pleased with the coverage,” I think it’s a good sign that the media is paying attention to positive students.” Bradley also noted that “community generosity was very inspirational and got us through a couple tough nights.” Campbell’s Rock Bottom Brewery donated catering for 50 students, for whom Bradley would also like to extend a whole hearted thank you.

Thursday afternoon, right before leaving for the march in San Francisco, a very dehydrated and excited Bradley said, “I’m pumped about the energy. All the words of encouragement and media excitement. This week has made me feel like a proud father.”