On Friday morning a group of students walked out of the front doors of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, not to ditch class but to spread awareness of global climate change.

The 10 or so student members of the Protect Your Environment Club stood along the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and waved picket signs with environmental messages like “Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea Level.” It was the first in a series of planned Friday walkouts to parallel the global Strike 4 Climate Action movement where thousands of students worldwide walk out of school every Friday to demand action on climate change.

The club’s co-president Caroline Hurley held a sign with a drawing of Earth that read “There Is No Planet B.” She said the club was inspired to join the movement after watching a Ted Talk by ninth grade Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who last year started the first school strike for climate change in Sweden. Now, thousands of miles away, Ms. Hurley said she wants the Vineyard community to join too.

“We just want the community to recognize what’s going on and show that the younger generation cares,” she said.

The group was led by faculty advisor and biology teacher Louis Hall, who has taught science classes in Island schools for 10 years. He said the club was restarted this year with help from Jonah Maidoff, a teacher at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, with a mission to engage the community about the climate through initiatives like the walkout and a monthly Climate Cafes at Island coffee shops. He praised the students for taking action in their own lives, from removing plastic from their routines to thinking about where their food comes from.

“The decisions they make about food, electricity, clothes really impact global emissions in a big way,” Mr. Hall said. “I’m just trying to instill to them that primary activism really makes a change.”

He said students used their flex period for the walkout so no class time was missed.

Junior Owen Favreau said he drew inspiration from watching other protests.

“It’s a serious issue and we want to address it with seriousness,” he said.

Freshman Ingrid Moore is already making her voice heard in the Plastic Free on MV and Straw Free MV groups. She said people can do things to live a more sustainable lifestyle by reusing water bottles to avoid plastic, composting food waste and relying on public transportation instead of driving.

“A lot of people don’t think about climate change during their daily routine,” she said.

Mr. Hall said he believes grass roots efforts like the Friday walkout are what will bring about real action on climate change. He noted that the students are part of a united global movement and called them the next generation of leaders.

“These kids have a growing sense of agency, they are trying to figure out where they stand in society...these are the guys that will next be in office,” he said.