Further Afield: Telluride Mountain School’s Experiential Learning Trips
[click "Play", Emily Shoff interviews her husband, Andy] Excerpt from 2003…. Wandering the streets of Birmingham, Alabama with Telluride Mountain School’s students, it’s difficult to put a single word on all that I feel. Rage? Relief? Mostly what I feel is awe. Awe for all that has happened in this country. Awe for all that I do not know. I’m here with the 7th and 8th grade class to learn more about Civil Rights in America. For the past week, we have explored the Deep South, touring major battlefields from the Civil War and meeting with former Civil Rights activists. We have visited Memphis, seen the spot where Dr. King fell, and listened to some Blues musicians sing on Beale Street. Now, we’ve come to Birmingham, the heart of Civil Rights activism during the 1960s.
After a somber morning service at the 16th Street Baptist Church, the place where four little girls died in a bombing in 1963, we have just stepped out of the Civil Rights Institute and into its sculpture garden. One of the sculptures depicts a girl who struggles to free herself from the jaws of a police dog. The dog holds onto her tightly, gripping the hem of her dress.
For the first time in a while, the group is silent. The girl speaks to them. She is not much older that any of them, perhaps even younger, and yet she risks her life for freedom. This has been a revelation for everyone as we learn more about the protest movements of the 60’s—learning about the children’s efforts in Birmingham and elsewhere. Across the South, children went to jail and risked their lives in order to draw attention towards the hatred and mistreatment of blacks.





