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Each spring, the students from the Lagunitas Middle School located in West Marin, California take a trip of a lifetime! After studying the history of the Civil Rights Movement in America, our students spend a week visiting in-person momentous sites in Alabama and Georgia.The goal of the trip is for our students to have a very rich and deep understanding of basic human rights and civil rights. We want them to see that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. As a community we commit to taking our students to some of the places in the country where ordinary people came together to demand civil rights and equality.
“Many communities and schools send their students to Washington DC as part of their 8th grade year. When we do this we reinforce the idea that Washington DC is where power lives and change happens. However, if you look at the whole of our history it is a small and relatively homogeneous group who have held power in DC. Instead, it is a far more diverse and powerful group of changemakers who have guided many of our proudest moments far from the halls of power in DC. By sending our students to Georgia and Alabama as a community we are aligning our actions with our values. We are sending a message to our students that change is possible and that they have the power to define the world they want to live in.”
– Katherine Sanford, Social Studies teacher at Lagunitas Middle School
Day 1 – Explore King Center/Auburn Street/Ebenezer Church
Explore the neighborhood and church where Dr. Martin Luther King grew up and pay respects where he and Coretta Scott King are buried.
Day 2 – Rosa Park Museum
Stand where the Civil Rights movement began and learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Tour Selma & The Edmund Pettus Bridge
Meet with someone who was beaten on the march. Hear her story and walk across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Day 3 – Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum
Explore the evolution of racial oppression from slavery to mass incarceration.
Memorial for Peace and Justice – Lynching Memorial
Reflect on an often-overlooked tragedy at the first national memorial for victims of lynching.
Walking tour of Freedom Park & 16th Street Baptist Church
Get a walking tour by a Reverend who was a Civil Rights worker in Birmingham in the 50s & 60s and was arrested and had the dogs & hoses turned on him. See the historic church where 4 girls died in a bombing.
Day 4 – National Human and Civil Rights Museum
See the brand-new museum that is devoted to understanding modern day Human Rights issues as well as understand the Civil Rights struggle
“This trip was a life changing experience that not only had me thing about civil rights in our history, but changed my perspective on my life and the privilege that I hold. All the people we met during those four days made sure we knew how loved and special we were, and that was a crucial part of the trip.” – Ella
“I believe that the Alabama trip was a unique and necessary, emotional journey that opened my eyes to the reality of the past, present, and future of our nation.” – Vesper
“It was a great bonding experience with my class and peers. I learned so much about civil and human rights and the importance of loving everyone including yourself.” –Jasper
“Alabama was an unforgettable, once in a life time experience and we are all so grateful to Katherine for all of the time and hard work she put in to taking us on the trip.” –Victoria
“It was cool to actually be at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. You can’t just read about it to fully experience it.” –Oliver
The Civil Rights Movement was a powerful social and political movement in the United States that aimed to end racial segregation, discrimination and racism against Black people. Spanning roughly from the 1950s to the 1960s, the movement was driven by nonviolent protests, civil disobedience, and grassroots organizing.
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT: In 1955, a 42 year old Black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sparked the civil rights movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which the residence of Montgomery boycotted the bus system and succeeded in making bus segregation unconstitutional. Rosa Parks became known as “the mother of the civil rights movement”.
SIT-INS AND FREEDOM RIDES: In the early 1960s, civil rights activists started sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and conducted Freedom Rides to challenge racial segregation in interstate transportation. These nonviolent actions sparked national attention and helped to desegregate public facilities.
SELMA MARCH: On March 9, 1965, more than 2,000 people followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The motivation for this action was to protest the denial of voting rights for Black people. On the bridge, Dr. King stopped and led the crowd in prayer before encountering severe violence from police groups blocking their way. This event triggered national attention and led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Al Baylacq
Albert Mannes
Amanda Eichstaedt
Amie Landau
Anita Teicher and Paul Teicher
Anne Cutler
Anne Fazioli-Khiari
Anne McPherson
Bernadette Andrews
Beth Ann Hinrichs
Betty Jo Splendorio
Bill and Barbara Coffey
Bill and Julie Driver
Bill Howard
Blake & Nikki Bizzander
Carol Fazioli and Martin Fazioli
Daniel Michelson
Danielle Patterson
David and Joanne Liu Barry
Diana Rozos
Diane and Jerry Ackeret
Donna Cohen
Donna Hertz
Eileen Bakel
Ellen Michelson
Eric Bunal
E W Cohen
Ethan Michelson
Florence Gibbons
Frederic Warnecke and Oliva Gulish
George Marquis
H. W. Howard and M. E. Howard
Jacky Turnbull
Jahya Burke
Janet Gross
Jeffrey Bowling
Jeremy Michelson
Jessica and Joel Steffen
Jessica Gulish
Jessica Lasky
Johannes Ritter
John Proctor
John Stafsnes
Jolana Bishay
Jon Olsen
Julia Durr
Juliette Valente
Kathleen Cooper
Laura Colic
Laurence and Loraine Levy
Lizbeth Sherman
Louisa Michelson
Luanne Driver and Anne Shaw
Lynn Regnery
Margaret and Michael McAndrew
Margaret Bernarding
Margaret Renner
Mark Anderson
Mark Lemyre
Mark Melvin
Matts Mattsson
Maura Baldocchi
Meg Grey Wells
Michael and Windy Robertson
Michael Fazioli
Mike Rudolph
Mimi van der Voort
Rebecca Nowlen
Rich Clarke
Richard Berg
Ruth Mannes
Roni Adams
Sara Kane
Steven Ferriot and Jean Ferriot
Susan B. McBain
Susan Yobp
Susana Brandan
Susan Sullivan
Thelma Bronet
Thomas and Carol Neumann
Tracy and Jim Driver
Valerie Olsen
Verla Regnery Foundation
Wayne Levy
Parents of 2024 Civil Right Trip students, please use the form below to make contributions towards your child’s trip We expect this year’s trip to cost $1500 per child. Please make recurring or monthly contributions towards this amount.
Community members who would like to support the Lagunitas School District Civil Rights Trip, we gratefully accept your donation! Please use the form below to contribute.
Our next fundraiser is Valley Visions! Join us on August 26 for an evening of music by the creek. Details can be found on our Valley Visions page.