KIPP Truth Academy 5th graders take Civil Rights Tour
BY INDRIA HOLLINGSWORTH
On May 4, buses filled with more than 50 excited 5th graders and left from KIPP Truth Academy for a tour of important civil rights destinations. Kipp Academy is a college-preparatory middle school, located in Oak Cliff.
The school is dedicated to student success and embraces the challenge of removing the barriers to education for all students—regardless of background. Fifth grade students attending the trip worked all year to earn their place on the bus; embarking on a week long Civil Rights Field Lesson complimenting the Civil Rights materials students had been studying.
Selma, Alabama was the first stop on the tour. KIPPsters reverently walked across the Edmond Pettus Bridge, site of the infamous conflict on “Bloody Sunday” where armed officers attacked peaceful civil rights demonstrators. At the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, students visited the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, the cornerstone of the contemporary struggle for voting rights.
KIPPsters went on to Birmingham, anxious to visit the church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr pastored from 1954 – 1960: Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. It was at Dexter than Dr. King began his quest for civil rights, which was a center point for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Students saw the modest pulpit where Dr. King preached his message of hope and brotherhood.
The final city on the tour was Atlanta, Georgia. During their first day in A.T.L., KIPPsters visited Turner Field, the World of Coca-Cola and were welcomed at the CNN Center, where they met journalist Wolf Blizter. Day Two in Atlanta was filled with a visit to The King Center -the living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. King- and Morehouse College, King’s Alma Mater. Last stops for the KIPPsters before returning to Dallas, were the Georgia Aquarium and Atlanta Underground.
When students arrived back in Dallas late on May 8th, they came back with something they did not have before they left…memories that will last a lifetime.
For more information about KIPP TRUTH Academy, please visit www.kipptruth.org
