Listening to Students’ Voices
City Springs was pleased to welcome State Senator Bill Ferguson to our school on September 20th. Senator Ferguson attended the morning assembly and spent time talking to the students in Mr. Oroke’s English language arts class. Senator Ferguson has served on the State’s Early Childhood Advisory Council, and he particularly enjoyed his visit to the Early Learning Center where he observed our young scholars working hard on foundational skills!
Senator Ferguson announced his visit to City Springs after several of our middle school students took a trip to Annapolis last spring and toured the State House. During their visit, our students were treated to a history of the state of Maryland. Following that presentation, students remarked on the lack of diversity among the “important” people in Maryland’s history. Specifically, they noted (with some frustration) how people of color were barely included, if at all. After returning to City Springs, they wrote letters to Senator Ferguson to express their concerns and offered suggestions for how to make the State House history tour more inclusive and welcoming for minority visitors. Senator Ferguson arrived on September 20th ready to discuss the letters. He thanked our students for the challenging yet respectful way in which they expressed their disappointment with the lack of diversity represented in the history tour and invited them back to Annapolis in the spring to see the changes that he has been working on. We appreciate Senator Ferguson taking time to come to our school and discuss our students’ concerns.