DENVER -- Several metro area school districts were hit by a huge student walkout Wednesday morning as students marched to the state Capitol to protest immigration reform.

The Colorado State Patrol said up to 2,500 students from more than 14 schools attended the rally.

By all accounts, the walkout was well-planned and well-organized. The students left their classrooms chanting, "Yes, we can," in Spanish, making their way to the Capitol. They wore white T-shirts to symbolize peace and unity, and waved U.S. and Mexican flags.

"Our stance is united youth for immigration reform," said Rafa Arvizu Derr, 17, a junior at West High School who helped organize Wednesday's event. He said students had spread the word with cellphone text messages, Internet posts and fliers.

One group of marchers jammed inbound lanes of Speer Boulevard, and police cars were stationed at intervals along their route.

Security was tight as the groups converged on the Capitol, all the time under the watchful eye of Denver police and the CSP.

About 40 state troopers were working at the Capitol, Master Trooper Ron Watkins said.

"Our job is just to maintain order," he said.

Denver police pulled officers from the SWAT and traffic teams to help patrol the streets and monitor the rally. Police on both sides of the Capitol blocked off traffic on Lincoln Boulevard.

Tenth-grader Christina Garcia said the students love America and wanted to stay, but that some of the proposed laws would force their parents out of the country and the teens would have to leave, too.

At the Capitol, 17-year-old Adella Lopez read a letter to the crowd asking Colorado Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar to oppose a House-passed measure that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally.

The letter said the bill's provisions "are bad policies and dead end for our community."

The students believe the plans for immigration reform could adversely affect them and their families.

"We are trying to get our voices heard as students. We feel that they are not paying much attention to us as students," said Daniel Alacion, a student protester from Jefferson High School.

In the crowd there were parents too, who saw the walkout as a learning experience for their kids.

"They are involved. They get to say what's on their mind," said parent Patricia Bialkando.

The peaceful protest ended just before noon and students were ordered to disperse. Some went to Viking Park near North High School afterward and some returned to school on buses that were provided free of charge by the Regional Transportation District.

Despite the traffic tie-ups around the Capitol, no other problems were reported, police said.

Gov. Bill Owens, who was not at the Capitol at the time of the rally, said he believes the students are sincere but found it "odd" that they only demonstrate on school days.

"I'd be much more impressed if I saw these students out marching on a Saturday," he said.

Schools' Point Of View

For the people who spend their careers teaching young people, Wednesday was especially "odd." Many classrooms were left empty when students walked out of class.

At North High School, where hundreds of students were absent, teachers found themselves talking to one or two students in an entire classroom.

Some teachers and the principal at North High School said while they understand the passion and the emotion the immigration issue brings, they also feel stuck in the middle.

"It's tough to see a whole class of freshmen gone. It's shocking, I would say. It's shocking and, you know, it can be sad," said Caleb Hicks, who teaches biology at North High School.

At North, there were so many absences, that some students who did show up finally decided to leave as well.

At least one lawmaker blames complacent educators.

"Too many schools are allowing this to happen without some severe retribution on these children that are out here demonstrating, taking the day off, being belligerent in doing so," said Rep. Dave Schulteiss.

The principal at North said lawmakers need to act.

"I'm hoping that it gets resolved soon, this year. This school year would be great so we could end the school year on a positive note," said Darlene LeDoux, North High's principal.

Denver Public Schools is still counting, but so far, 14 schools in the district, including five high schools, had students walk out totalling at least 1,300 from that district alone. Jefferson High School in the Jefferson County School District saw roughly 200 students walk out and additional 300 walked out at North. Some schoold said other students didn't even come to school.

Most students will face an unexcused absence. However, as long as a student has fewer than four unexcused absences in a given month or 10 over the entire school year, they won't face any discipline.

Denver Public Schools spokesman Mark Stevens said principals and teachers had discouraged students from participating, and that any discipline will be handled on a student-by-student basis.

"Our point is you can only get through the curriculum and get through class if you're present," he said.

Students who went to school had mixed feelings about the walkout.

"I think it's important. But not important enough to miss school and this important opportunity that they're giving us for a free education," said North High School junior Byron Spencer.

"And I don't think that this is just Mexicans, you know? I don't support that fact. I think that this involves African-Americans, Asians, everyone you know? I think only Native Americans aren't the ones that are immigrants to this country," said North High School freshman Eddie Orozco.

"We believe that when students exercise a 'right' to leave school, they also have a responsibility to take care of their learning," said Dr. Cindy Stevenson, with Jefferson County Schools.

Police, Schools Had Prepared For Massive Walkout

Denver police warned people Tuesday that downtown streets could be clogged by the march, the latest in a string of rallies in Colorado and across the country.

There have been student walkouts before over the immigration reform bills. One at Ranum High School on April 5 in Adams County drew a relatively small number of students. What school districts feared for Wednesday was a turnout more like what happened on March 25, when an estimated 50,000 people crammed into Civic Center Park to support fair immigration reform. That large rally caught police off-guard, blocking roads all around the Capitol.

But school officials knew about this large walkout in advance.

"What we're hearing is that approximately 14 schools from across the Denver metro area, across school districts," said Stevenson.

Schools such as Manning High School in Jefferson County were on notice to call parents if any students miss class without permission.

For the past week, DPS and Jeffco Schools have been meeting with staff and police to prepare for what might happen.

"It's a very unfortunate misuse of taxpayer money and taxpayer investment in the system. We cannot teach kids unless they're in class, learning from our teachers and being there. So, it's of concern to us," Stevens said.

Jeffco Schools mailed a letter out to parents in English and in Spanish letting them know about the student-organized walkout. DPS also let administrators in individual schools know about the walkout a week ago, so they could start preparing.

Lawmakers Talk Immigration

Meanwhile, immigration issues were on the minds of state lawmakers Tuesday.

Republican legislators held a news conference at the Capitol to say they want Democrats to work with them to pass illegal immigration reform. Democrats said they've already passed several bills.

"It's a costly problem for our state, burdens education, welfare and public safety," said State Rep. Mike May.

"We've passed more legislation to tackle illegal immigration than any session ever," said State Rep. Andrew Romanoff.

A bill to crack down on human smuggling passed a house committee. The state legislature is scheduled to end its regular session three weeks from Wednesday on May 10.