At Beginning and End, Bus Tour Focuses on Civil Rights
Kelly Martinez, Joanna Quinn, and Mohamed Nur show their civil rights project to Secretary Duncan
The “Courage in the Classroom” bus tour started at a landmark of the civil rights movement.
And it ended today in Portland, Maine, with middle school students telling Secretary Duncan about their in-depth research project on how people in their community participated in that movement.
At the stop at King Middle School in Portland, a group of three rising 8th graders made a poster presentation to the secretary about how they interviewed local residents about their participation in marches and protests to advance civil rights.
The project, completed last spring, was an interdisciplinary effort. The students learned the history of the movement. They practiced interviewing skills with family members. They interviewed local residents. They published a book about their project.
The capstone of the project was an assembly where they presented their findings to the community, including many of their interview subjects.
“I learned that people in Portland that made a difference, not just people down South,” said Joanna Quinn, who presented about the project along with classmates Kelly Martinez and Mohamed Nur.
