The story below originally appeared on San Mateo Patch and is being reposted with permission.
The Sojourn to the Past isn’t just a field trip. It’s a journey back in time to learn about one of the most momentous and transitional periods in America’s history.
The academic immersion for high schoolers became so widely received in six states that Sojourn founder Jeff Steinberg, an AP history teacher at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, brought the journey in the form of a class to Cañada College, the College of San Mateo, and Skyline College in January. Minnijean Brown of the Little Rock Nine also co-teaches the 16-week course.
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African-American students who defied the Arkansas National Guard, whom Governor Orval Faubus ordered to prevent the students from entering their school.
“The course uses the lens of the movement to teach lessons today about human rights and dignity,” said Nancy Kraus, Sojourn’s spokesperson. “It sheds light on attitudes toward homophobia, bullying and violence.”
Steinberg, brother of California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, had been working with immediate past Cañada president Tom Mohr to start a class. Mohr, who sits on the Sojourn board, had been highly interested in expanding the curriculum on civil rights.
The class is open to community college students as well as high schoolers and adults.