School committee approves student trip to Montgomery as part of social justice learning program

The Watertown School Committee voted March 24 to approve an out-of-state educational trip to Montgomery, Alabama for the district’s Social Justice Learning Program.

The proposal, presented by English teacher Will McLaughlin and student members of the program, called for students to visit the Equal Justice Initiative museum, the sculpture garden and the memorial, and to volunteer with a local Meals on Wheels program. The group said the trip is intended to pair restorative-justice training and leadership development with curricular and community activities the students will bring back to Watertown Public Schools, including professional-development offerings for teachers, student exhibitions and lessons for middle and high school classrooms.

Why it matters: Program organizers said the trip connects students directly to civil-rights history and provides materials and experiences the students plan to convert into workshops, lessons and public exhibitions. Committee members emphasized the trip’s value for student leadership and community education.

Details and logistics: Will McLaughlin, an English teacher who chaperoned last year’s trip, said the experience can be emotionally intense and that additional chaperones are necessary to support students on-site. Student presenters described a combination of museum visits and service work and outlined follow-up activities including tier-one circles in classrooms and mentor-led exhibitions of student work. The presenters said lodging logistics previously have used privately rented homes (Airbnb) because of limited hotel capacity in Montgomery; the committee discussed that arrangement during questions.

Committee discussion: Committee members praised the students’ presentation and asked about supervision. A committee member asked about the ratio of chaperones to students; presenters said the plan uses multiple chaperones both to cover lodging logistics and to provide emotional supports while visiting difficult historical sites. Another member highlighted the curricular and community-return components as central to the program.

Outcome: A motion to approve the social justice learning program trip to Montgomery passed by voice vote. The committee recorded the motion, asked for discussion and then voted “aye.” No formal roll-call tally was recorded in the public transcript.

Next steps: Organizers said they will finalize logistics and lodging based on the committee approval and continue developing the post-trip professional-development and community-exhibition plans described to the committee.