Montgomery to Atlanta...

How in the world has this gone so quickly, our last night in a hotel...so, tomorrow parents your children will be yours again. :)

We started the morning in Montgomery, headed to the Rosa Parks museum (which is part of Troy University) and Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church.  The Rosa Parks museum had traveling art display of the DMZ separating North and South Korea and the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin.  After that we moved our way through the museum telling the story of Rosa Parks and her stand against bus segragation.  It was a powerful display of the Civil Rights issues in Montgomery.

From there we walked to Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, which as Martin Luther King Jr.'s first and only pastorate.  It's a very surreal feeling to sit in the pews from 1889 and listen to a pastor tell the story of the church and it's importance to the movement in Montgomery.

We traveled from there to Georgia and ate lunch along the way.

When we arrived on the outskirts of Atlanta we went to Kennesaw National Park the site of a major battle during the Civil War on Sherman's campaign to capture Atlanta.  Our students did a great job and were complimented by a group of people who were there as well.

From Kennesaw we went to Sonny's BBQ for dinner...which was wonderful!

After dinner we went to the Westin which is the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere and rode the elevators to the 72nd floor to see the amazing view of Atlanta.  It was a fun experience for the students, make sure you ask to see their pictures.

It's been an amazing trip, the students have been great!

Tomorrow we are heading to Stone Mountain for a day of fun together...then to the airport to head home.

Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery

Woke up this morning with rain in Birmingham, but thankfully it did not put a huge damper on our day.  

We headed to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a museum of the Civil Rights movement with special focus on the events in Birmingham.  The students were exceptional, going through the museum, reading the information, and really thinking through the tough realities of the Civil Rights movement.  After the museum we went across the street to Kelly Ingram Park, the site of the student march which turned violent with fire hoses and attack dogs turned on the protestors.  It is a beautiful park, and was a nice moment for the students to walk around talk and take in the various markers there for the people who marched that day.  

We walked across the street to the 16th Street Baptist Church which was bombed and lead to the deaths of 4 young girls.  This was a very moving time as the girls were the same ages as our students.  The church is beautiful and very much the same as that day when it was bomb close to 50 years ago. Our students sat in the pews and walked down to the basement where much of the church had been damaged due to the bomb.  There were a lot of thoughts stirred in Birmingham, a lot of moments when students considered our history as a country and the importance of the lives lost.

From there we headed to Tannehill National Park which was a significant spot during the Civil War due to the iron that was produced there and sent to Selma to make ammunition for the South.  It was absolutely beautiful there...the students got to see an iron blast furnace and hear about the significance of that very location and it is destruction towards the end of the war.  There was also a cute general store there with lots of treats that the students enjoyed.

We loaded the buses and headed to Selma, Alabama the site of the Edmund Pettis Bridge and the event of Bloody Sunday.  Our students marched side by side, just like the marchers did in the 1960's over the bridge...it was a piognant moment for many of them to consider the realities of what the marchers believed in.  

After Selma we headed to Montgomery.  Montgomery was the birthplace of the Confederacy and a major city during the Civil Rights era.  We stood on the steps of the capital, looking down Dexter street at the church that was pastored by Martin Luther King Jr., and the site of Rosa Park's historic stand for equality.  We walked to the Civil Rights Memorial to see the beautiful memorial remembering those who gave their lives during the movement. It is a breath-taking memorial, one that always leaves an impression on me.

After that we headed to dinner at the Golden Corral which the students enjoyed...lots of food and lots of time to chat and be together.

Tonight when we got to the hotel we gave the students an opportunity to share their thoughts of the trip...I wish I could relay to you all their thoughts, but they were many and left me so proud of our students and their respect for both the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement.

Tomorrow we visit the Rosa Parks Museum and the Dexter Avenue Church and then it is on to Atlanta the last stop on our journey.

It has been amazing.

good morning...

Sorry for missing the post last night the wifi in the hotel was not the best. 

Yesterday was a beautiful day.

We took a river boat cruise on the mighty Mississippi which was mighty.  The kids enjoyed the boat and had fun talking and being together while a tour guide gave us interesting tid-bits about Memphis and this natural water highway which is still a vital part of the U.S. today.  We were thankful to escape rain throughout the boat ride, we did see some very cool lightening off in the distance in Arkansas.  

From the boat we loaded the buses to make our way to Shiloh.  This was a change from last year's trip and it was worth it.  Shiloh was incredible.  The students walked part of the battlefield and rode on the buses as well, it was amazing to consider the over 23,000 lives lost on that battlefield.  The tour guides complimented our group, which is always nice to hear.

We headed to dinner...I don't think I can do our dinner stop justice, you will for sure have to ask your kids about it.  It was a very cool, local place complete with karokee which some of our students sang.  The kids enjoyed the food, atmosphere, time together, and fun.

We made it to Birmingham late last night...we are up early this morning on our way to Birmingham Civil Rights museum and the 16th Street Baptist church.

The rain has caught up with us, but we will enjoy our day and learn a lot...

And most of all consider what we see, what we hear, and how that makes us feel.

Los Angeles to Memphis...

Today started bright and early with a 4:30 am arrival time at LAX...yikes, it was early.  All the students arrived on time and were ready to go on our adventure of a lifetime.  The excitement was evident as we made our way through ticketing, security, and on to the gate.  

Both teams had great flights with no problems or issues.  Honestly, the airports are the most nerve-racking part of the trip.  Phew, one down and only a return flight left.

All our luggage safely arrived in Memphis as well, so we said good-bye to the Memphis airport and hello to our ACTS tour guides.

From the airport we headed to the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.  The kids stood on the bank while they heard some history and then were able to walk down and hang out by the water for a few minutes. It was beautiful.  Storms clouds were forming over Arkansas across the river and a nice breeze was blowing...it was wonderful.

We then loaded the buses to head to the National Civil Rights museum at the Lorraine Motel.  The museum has been completely renovated and does not open until Saturday, so we got to have a preview tour today...it was awesome!  Some of the museum was still getting the final finishing touches, but it was amazing to see and hear some of the stories of the Civil Rights movement.  With the climax of the tour being able to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s hotel room and look out on the balcony where he was killed. The students were amazing.  After the tour we debriefed and the students had great thoughts to share about what they saw and how it made them feel.  Yes, even after a very long day they were thinking and feeling.

From the museum we headed to dinner at Central BBQ which was great food and fun.  The students enjoyed good Southern food. It was a great time.

Came back to the hotel and had our devotional time with Mr. Ratchford who is going through the story of Philemon as our theme for this trip.

Now, it's time for bed...

Tomorrow river boat cruise, Shiloh, and on to Birmingham.

Pray the rain stays away.

Good Night.

The Countdown Has Begun...

The countdown has begun for "The March"...

We are busy preparing all the final touches for "The March".  We are packing our bags, gathering extra supplies, finalizing flight schedules, and anticipating a wonderful trip.

You will be able to follow our journey through nightly blog posts of highlights of our day, and maybe a few little fun facts.

We are very excited to begin this historic march and we anticipate our journey together to be one of fun, informative, and life-changing.

"The March:  Journey from Civil War to Civil Rights" begins on Wednesday...

Day Four...Stone Mountain, Home

We enjoyed a beautiful day at Stone Mountain, the second largest rock in the world!  Stone Mountain has the pictures of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson carved on it's side...it is beautiful!  We rode the skyride to the top and it was amazing.  The view was spectacular, and cold!  The wind was blowing, but the view of Atlanta and the surrounding areas was truly beautiful.

We spent the day at the park, it's an amusement park (not quite Disneyland, to our CA kids surprise), but it was fabulous.  Activities to do, food to eat, and shops to look it...it was a wonderful way to cullmanate and incredible trip.

After we finished our time at Stone Mountain we headed to the Atlanta airport, which is said to be the busiest airport.  Thankfully, both teams made it through ticketing well due to some very kind American and United airlines staff.  We got through TSA not without them being annoyed with us, but at this point our students were doing fantastic and doing everything they were asked!  We made it to our gates and began to wait for our flights home.

The BLUE team was flying to Dallas with their fingers crossed that all would go smoothly and they wouldn't be stuck in Dallas for another 3 hours.  They did great and arrived back at LAX on time and safely!

The RED team was flying to Washington DC and then to LAX.  We had a long flight...the students did great and really just so tired by the time we landed at midnight.

We all had been going since about 7 am eastern time and were landing about 3 am eastern time so that's about a 20 hour day.  The students did fabulous, and everyone made it home safely!

Many thanks to those who followed our journey.  It truly was a once in a lifetime experience...can't say that some the sights we saw would ever be visited by the students on their own.

We live in an amazing country, with amazing people.

Ask your students to tell you all about it...

I AM IMPRESSED!

Over the past two evenings we have had the privilege of slowing down at night and having a group wide debrief time.  It is a time of open sharing based on our Daily Refreshers (devotions), experiences throughout the day, and overall impressions from the trip.  And I must say, I am impressed with this 8th grade class.  Their level of processing very real and difficult material (racism, slavery, segragation, etc.) is astounding.  

Here are some highlights that were shared by the students just last night(paraphrased):

  *Did you know that just like when the Israelites were in slavery Harriet Tubman was like Moses.

  *After seeing the affect of people's words during the civil rights era, it makes me realize what I say matters and I should be more cautious with my words.

  *It struck me how humble Martin Luther King Jr. was about his leadership role.  He would always say that it was not him leading the civil rights movement but all the folks, common and famous, that stand together who lead the movement.

  *I have had the chance to bond with my classmates in a new way and it gives me hope as I go back to school.

  *I'm thankful for what these men and women did so that I live in a different world.

These are only snapshots of the amazing moments that were shared.  I really wish I could have had parents, teachers, grandparents, and friends sit in as "flies on the wall" and listen.  The power of what these students had to share was stirring, moving and filled all the adults with a grand sense of hope in knowing they will be a part of our future.

Dr. MacPhee said it well at the end of last nights meeting (again paraphrased).  He stood up quitely and posed this question, 

     Do you think when MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks were 12 years old that any of their parents or teachers had any idea what they would do with their lives?  

Of course the answer is no.  There is no way for us to see what will transpire in someone's life.  So he pointed out that at this very moment we might be sitting in a room with the next Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks.  Wow, what a powerful thought.  Ordinary people at the right moment in time, standing up against injustice with the power of Jesus on their side and make a peaceful yet powerful stand for the movement of good could be riding on these buses through the southeast.  

What will be the civil rights issues that this generation will face, challenge and overcome? .