Teachers, students ready to head back to class as walk-out ends

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Now that the walkout has ended, teachers and students will begin to head back to class on Friday, and some are speaking out on how they feel about everything that's happened.

Teachers say they're celebrating their victories but know their work isn't done.

"So re-energizing and it puts into play what my role is as a teacher, especially education," Ashley Agney said. "We're all about advocating for our students and that's the biggest reason we're all here."

"When the times got tough or when we saw negative comments on social media, we just reminded each other that this is what the state needs and so we stuck together and did it," Lorialle Haynes said.

Collier Elementary School teachers Ashley Agney and Lorialle Haynes say the walk-out was stressful, but worth it. They say they felt detached from students and wanted to get back to class.

"It was hard," Haynes said. "I didn't want to be gone and every day that they extended it, it was a little heartbreaking moment because we don't want to be away from our kids."

They say tomorrow's reunion will be a celebration.

"Personally, I'm going to be full of emotion tomorrow, just seeing all of them, hugging them, just ready to welcome them," Agney said.

It's not just the teachers inside the classroom who are excited to get back. Students we talked to are just as excited.

"I've been out of school for a long, long time and it feels like I've been standing on a mountain and I've not gotten to see anyone in like 500,090 years," said Paisley, a kindergartner.