As an opportunity to learn firsthand about the Civil Rights Movement of Mississippi, 44 middle and high school students (and 11 chaperones) from McComb took a three-day educational tour at the end of the 2010–11 school year. The tour was originally planned for mid-May, but when the planning committee heard an announcement that the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders' Reunion would be held in Jackson, Mississippi, the following week, we immediately changed our plans so that we could attend the reunion as well. 

We spent Day 1 of the tour in Jackson, Miss., at the Freedom Riders Reunion; on Day 2 we saw historic sites in Philadelphia, Miss., and met the town’s first black mayor, James Young; and on Day 3 we visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The students had studied the modern Civil Rights Movement for several weeks before the trip. While on the trip sophomore Sabrina Mays commented: “You read about it and you have it for a minute and then you lose it. When you experience it hands-on it stays with you forever.” 

 

Day One: May 23, 2011

• Students attended a memorial service at Tougaloo College in Jackson to honor deceased Freedom Riders. “It was very touching and emotional; I shed quite a few tears today,” said Annisa Johns, MHS senior.

• Students also participated in Story Circles with leaders from the Young People’s Project and Freedom Riders at Jackson State University. The topic of discussion was “What Would Your Freedom Ride Be Today?” Sabrina Mays also had this to say about meeting with Freedom Riders, “It is just not the same as reading a book or looking on the internet.  When you sit down and you look in these people’s eyes, you have a connection. This is the best way to learn by talking to people that have been through it.”

• In addition, students attended the dedication and unveiling of the Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker at the Medgar Evers Home Museum. Randall Wanzo, a senior, commented, “When he took off the cover for the plaque, it felt like a historic moment.” “It’s a landmark!” added Omarr Peters, 8th grader.

Day Two: May 24, 2011

• Mayor James Young greeted students at the depot in downtown Philadelphia. He told the students, “This is more than just a tour; this is about you, this is about history - this is about the success of Mississippi.”  Afterwards 8th grader Lavelt Steptoe said, “I thought it was inspirational that someone can come from a small town on a farm and become the mayor against all odds.” Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, which was burned by klansmen and later rebuilt, was the next stop on the tour. After that, we visited Rock Cut Road, where a memorial marker was erected for the three slain civil rights workers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman.

Day Three: May 25, 2011

• The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis gave students “an opportunity to get in-depth and get deeper into it than just what is in the history books,” according to Marcus Graves, an 8th grader. Latedric Carter, an 8th grader, had this to say after seeing the balcony where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, “Where he stood, where he got assassinated and actually seeing that, you know, just got beside me;  thinking that he gave his life for me to be free today.”

This tour, the first of its kind for McComb students, will be etched in their memory.  “It is so amazing to get to see all the places that you can’t see in the classroom.  This is a great experience I never thought I would come to something like this,” Katerrica Hackett, an 8th grader, stated. Randall Wando commented that if he had been in a classroom he probably would not have learned as much as he did; he also said the trip was fun and that he learned to put events from history together. “I want to go back and say, hey, I’ve been there. I want to go back to McComb with knowledge and wisdom!” exclaimed Sabrina Mays.

As evidenced by the comments, enhanced learning opportunities enhance students’ overall learning and engagement in school. The school district plans to offer more enhanced learning opportunities for the 2011–12 school year.

Submitted by Gloria Stubbs, Associate Project Director-McComb