New Moton Museum project brings students together
Posted at 5:39 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30, 2022
FARMVILLE — When students from Prince Edward County High School and Fuqua School get together, it’s usually to participate in athletic or academic competitions. Today, the Moton Museum offers a chance for these students to make a difference in their county.
Bridge Builders is a community of young scholars who want to come together to foster unity and create a better future for schools, community and country. This program will help involved students build stronger relationships, help the Moton Museum, create a legacy project, and win a $1,000 college scholarship.
How Bridge Builders Began
Nine students from Prince Edward County High School and Fuqua School began the program earlier this month with officials from the Moton Museum. This project allows students from both schools to come together in a non-competitive setting as they work together to improve their shared community.
“We are thrilled to partner in this groundbreaking initiative with Prince Edward County Public Schools, Longwood University and the Moton Museum, and look forward to ‘building bridges’ together towards a brighter future for all.” , Paul “Chance” Reynolds, the school principal of Fuqua School, said in a statement.
Juniors from both high schools were chosen to be part of this two-year project after an application and interview process. According to Cainan Townsend, general manager of the museum, students’ grade point averages were considered, but it was more important to find the students who had the creative drive and wanted to make a positive impact in the world.
How it works
The first part of this program is the basic course. During this time, students will come to the museum and learn about the history of Prince Edward County. This part lasts the whole first semester. Then, in the spring of the junior year and the fall of their senior year, students will begin the volunteer portion totaling approximately 10 hours of community service. To complete the course, students will apply what they have learned to create a capstone project identifying a problem or problem in the county with a practical solution to solving it.
“We look forward to participating in this productive and forward-thinking partnership between Prince Edward County Public Schools, Fuqua School and the Moton Museum,” said Dr. Barbara Johnson, Superintendent of Prince Edward County Public Schools. , in a press release. “This will be a great opportunity to introduce local history to our young people and give them the basics of local community advocacy.”
What is the Moton Museum?
The Moton Museum is located in the former Robert Russa Moton High School on Griffin Boulevard, the birthplace of America’s student-led Civil Rights Revolution. According to the museum’s website, the 1951 Moton student strike, led by Barbara Johns, produced three-quarters of the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that desegregated American schools. Townsend hopes being there will help inspire current students to realize that they too can make a difference even though they are young.
According to Townsend, this is the first of hopefully many Bridge Builder programs. There has been great community support and he hopes to begin the application process for next year’s juniors at the end of this semester.
“It’s a great opportunity for students to come together and make a difference in the community,” said Townsend. “I’m already seeing relationships forming between students and it’s great to see.”
