Canoeing through a historic rice plantation in Charleston inhabited by alligators in early June, Clara Denham got a small taste of what it would have been like for slaves clearing swamps and harvesting rice in the south's oppressive heat.
The eighth-grader, who attends Broomfield's Aspen Creek K-8, challenged herself to learn about slavery by joining a school district trip to Charleston, S.C., to see firsthand what was one of the country's busiest ports during the slave trade.
Clara was one of six students who joined Boulder Valley teachers' visit to historic Charleston sites over three days as part of the AT LAST — Alliance to Teach the Legacy of the Atlantic Slave Trade — project.
The AT LAST project, a collaboration between Impact on Education and the school district, last year included 10 teachers at four schools.
Molly Peterson, who taught Cate and her classmates about the slave trade at Ryan Elementary, struggled to find the words to describe the summer trip.
"There is nothing quite like watching the gears turn in the heads of students, who learned in great depth about the horror of the Atlantic slave trade, as they gaze out into the Charleston Harbor and imagine the hundreds of slave ships that arrived at Sullivan's Island," she said.
He said another goal is to include more Colorado history, such as the local history of indigenous people.
To read more of Amy Bounds' article, please click here.
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