The news was based on a report issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an institution that Gordon School eighth graders visit every year during their trip to Georgia and Alabama.

 

Since 2002, the eighth grade has traveled to the South to conclude their study of the Civil Rights Movement. They visit historical sites, but it is the people they meet that have the biggest impact; students spend time with veterans of the 1950s and 1960s efforts, and meet community activists working for change in the present day.

 

Teachers from all grades serve as chaperones for the trip, and eighth graders' present their experiences to the entire school, ensuring that students throughout the school engage with this history every year, and children as young as Kindergarten anticipate making the trip for themselves.

 

Beyond the headline-grabbing findings on the shabby state of various states' curricular requirements, the report also tackles the question of why the civil rights movement matters. Gordon graduates who met Joanne Bland, Johnnie Carr, Charles Black and other "foot soldiers" of the movement will smile when they read "Students need to know that the movement existed independently of its most notable leaders, and that thousands of people mustered the courage to join the struggle, very often risking their lives."