Experiencing History Together - Hamilton

DEFINING FREEDOM IN AMERICA - A CHANCE FOR RCHS STUDENTS TO SEE HAMILTON

Richmond Community High School comes from a strong history of social engagement, racial equity, and being the first! It was the first school of its kind in the country, focused on students from low income minority homes wanting to go to college and needing the supports to get there. It was the first school in Virginia getting its original start through a private/ public partnership. It is housed in the first voluntarily integrated school in Virginia.

The model of the school is that of a Community and was based on the original Dabney Papers which described a curriculum based on supportive internal family units for students and  experiential learning components that hold strong today.

This year we hope the students, our future leaders,  will get to learn history, make their own history, and document history through the Learning History Together Project. 

This is a year long experienced based initiative where a diverse student body can experience history through the arts, history through story telling within their own neighborhoods, visit locations that highlight the strengths, struggles, and true history of their ancestors, and tie history in with the curriculum in their classrooms.

Right now we are trying to raise $1500 so that 60+ government students can see Hamilton and participate in the Hamilton Education Program. Students will prepare to see the show with advance reading, classroom instruction, and joint projects that they will compete to present before the play. Students are each paying $25.00 to purchase the ticket and part of transportation expense but we are still short $1500 for the bus. 


OTHER EVENTS AT RCHS HAPPENING THIS YEAR: 

Creating History

November -  - The students will be organizing and holding A Walk Against Gun Violence to call awareness to issues in Richmond and Nationwide and highlight strategies for addressing them.

History Through The Arts

November - The entire student body will attend a showing of Harriet, the story of Harriet Tubman, who helped free hundreds of slaves from the South after escaping from slavery herself in 1849.



December - 60+ US History Students will attend Hamilton in Norfolk with $10 tickets through Gilder Lehrman Institute.  Students will conduct advance work and research and participate in group discussions as part of the event. 

History In and Outside the Classroom

January / February - The entire student body will conduct research at the National African American History Museum in Washington DC.

April / May - Student's will culminate year of history through their mini-mester trips. The Sophomores will visit Atlanta to do a deep dive into the Civil Rights Movement and experience this modern and thriving city. Juniors will travel to Philadelphia. The focus will be defining freedom in America. 

1) religious freedom in the Amish country
2) birthplace of American ideas about freedom using the Revolutionary sites
3) expansion of freedom (Mother Bethel AME, African American Museum, Underground Railroad sites, Constitution Center)
4) freedom of expression (murals, Philadelphia Museum of Art)
5) economic freedom (possible service activity, we have a connection to a community service organization through one of our students)

Recording History 

Throughout the school year, students will be collecting the stories of neighbors, alumni and the elderly in Richmond to record their experiences in this city that has been always at the crossroads of history. 

 Students participate in fundraisers, pay when they can, and help each other out for tickets and entry fees. The biggest cost of all  is transportation.  Donations are tax deductible and we are seeking business sponsors. We need your help!

If you are interested in getting more information please reach out to Alison Owens, through www.supportrchs.com. 

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